Tigers Notes: Vierling, Olson, Urquidy, Boyd

A right rotator cuff strain delayed Matt Vierling’s season debut until May 23, and he played in only four games before inflammation in that same right shoulder sent him back to the injured list.  The Tigers utilityman’s luck may be starting to change, however, as a visit with Dr. Keith Meister earlier this week resulted in what Vierling described as “absolutely the best-case scenario” of just inflammation.

“I was nervous it might be something more serious, but the MRI showed that everything was fine structurally….I will start throwing [Sunday] and build up from there.  There is no exact timeline but hopefully sooner than later,” Vierling told the Detroit News’ Chris McCosky and other reporters yesterday.  Vierling also noted that he received an injection in his shoulder during his appointment.

Vierling is the only position player on the Tigers’ injured list, after a swath of early-season injuries left the club heavily depleted in the outfield.  Parker Meadows and Wenceel Perez have now both returned from the IL, Zach McKinstry remains a Swiss Army knife around the diamond, and Javier Baez has also evolved from a shortstop into more of a utility player (and a part-time center fielder).

All that’s missing now is Vierling, who filled a multi-positional role for Detroit in 2023-24 by suiting up at third base and at all three outfield positions, as well as a couple of appearances at first and second base.  Vierling also hit a respectable .259/.320/.406 over 1097 plate appearances over those two seasons, and his right-handed bat can help balance out a Tigers lineup that is still heavy in left-handed hitters.

Turning to the pitching side of the injured list, Tigers manager A.J. Hinch provided McCosky and company with an update on Reese Olson’s status.  Olson received an injection in his inflamed right ring finger last Wednesday, and threw a bullpen session on Saturday.  The next step will be incorporating changeups in Olson’s throwing sessions and future bullpens, which is the key step since it was throwing the changeup that led to the inflammation in the first place.

Olson increased his changeup usage this season, throwing the pitch 25.3% of the time and making it his chief secondary offering behind his sinker (31%).  An average pitch for Olson over his first two MLB seasons, the changeup was now suddenly his most effective offering as per Statcast’s run value metric, with the changeup registering a +5 this year.  This was, of course, over the small sample size of 48 2/3 innings in 2025, and the increase in effectiveness came at a price in the form of this IL trip.  Olson hasn’t pitched since May 17, and it looks like he’ll continue to be sidelined into the second half of June.

Jose Urquidy won’t be a factor (if at all) for the Tigers until much later in the 2025 season, as the right-hander is almost exactly one year removed from a Tommy John surgery.  Urquidy inked a one-year, $1MM guaranteed deal with Detroit in March that gives the Tigers a $4MM club option for 2026, essentially making this season a wait-and-see scenario for the team in gauging Urquidy’s recovery from rehab.

Urquidy hit a big checkpoint in his process on Friday, as Hinch said the righty threw a bullpen session at the Tigers’ spring complex in Lakeland.  Many steps remain in the throwing progression, and McCosky writes that “Urquidy is still maybe a month or more away from a rehab assignment.”  If all goes well, Urquidy could possibly be a factor for Detroit in late August or September, which would allow him to at least bank a few MLB innings as a bridge towards a fully healthy 2026.

With the Cubs visiting Detroit for a series, former Tiger Matthew Boyd was in town reuniting with some old friends in the clubhouse and on the media beat.  Boyd was a free agent this last winter, and he told MLive.com’s Evan Woodbery that he had some talks with the Tigers about a possible deal before eventually going to Chicago on a two-year, $29MM contract.  That signing has worked out wonderfully thus far, as Boyd has a 3.10 ERA over 68 2/3 innings and has been a stabilizing force within the Cubs’ injury-riddled rotation.

Boyd has spent eight of his 11 MLB seasons in a Detroit uniform, though the second of his two stints with the Tigers didn’t end well.  The southpaw signed a one-year, $10MM deal with the Tigers during the 2022-23 offseason, but he produced only a 5.45 ERA over 71 innings before a Tommy John surgery ended his 2023 season and kept him on the shelf for most of the 2024 campaign.  Boyd was able to return by the end of 2024 and, as a member of the Guardians, looked very sharp in posting a 2.72 ERA in 39 2/3 regular-season innings and then an 0.77 ERA over 11 2/3 postseason frames.

That performance was enough to land Boyd two guaranteed years from the Cubs, plus the contract contains a mutual option for 2027.  It is possible that giving Boyd a second year was too much for the Tigers, as the club was focused mostly on shorter-term additions to its pitching staff.  Detroit brought Jack Flaherty (for two years and $35MM, with an opt-out after 2025) and Alex Cobb (one year, $15MM) into the fold this past winter as alternatives to another reunion with Boyd.