The Tigers announced that infielder Colt Keith has been placed on the 10-day injured list due to right rib cage inflammation. Fellow infielder Jace Jung has been recalled as the corresponding move.
It’s unclear exactly how long Keith will be sidelined. He departed yesterday’s game while apparently grabbing at his back or side. “He was coming off and all he was saying to me was, ‘I got to come out of the game. I got to come out of the game,'” manager A.J. Hinch said yesterday, per Cody Stavenhagen of The Athletic. “It’s very concerning this time of year, especially when he was that passionate about something going on in his back/side/rib region.”
Earlier today, Hinch didn’t have much of an update, per Stavenhagen. “No news that I can confirm yet. He’s still going under medical evaluation. He’s here, and I talked to him. I know he’s not feeling great, but there’s been no determination as to what that means. Obviously we’ll limit him today, get him evaluated multiple times. There’s some doctor’s feedback that we’re waiting on so that we can both diagnose it and explain it. But right now, I have nothing.”
It now appears that, with the continued evaluation, the Tigers decided to put him on the shelf. At minimum, he will miss the remainder of the regular season. The Tigers are still in a good position to make the playoffs, though the Guardians have shrunk the gap in the Central division to just 3.5 games. Assuming the Tigers do hold on to make the playoffs, Keith could perhaps play a role in October, if his health allows.
As they try to clinch a playoff spot, the Tigers will be without a key bat. Keith has hit 13 home runs this year and slashed .256/.333/.413 for a 108 wRC+. He has done that while splitting his time between the three non-shortstop infield positions.
Gleyber Torres and Spencer Torkelson should have second and first base covered, though the hot corner should be more of a rotation. That was already the case, as Keith had been sharing the position with Andy Ibáñez and Zach McKinstry. Going forward, Ibáñez and McKinstry should continue getting playing time there, with McKinstry in the lineup at third tonight.
Jung could perhaps factor in as well, though his major league work this year has been poor. It was a small sample of 53 plate appearances, but he produced a .111/.245/.111 line earlier this year. That got him sent to the minors, where he has a much better .252/.370/.447 line for the year.
Photo courtesy of Jason Parkhurst, Imagn Images
Oh goody. McKinstry at 3rd from here on out. Baez at SS for the next week. Jung is not much of a hitter. He can sit next to Sweeney on the bench. Both hit LH’d.
This is going to go right down to the last day.
None of those names instill a lot of confidence. I don’t see Sweeney or Jung as MLB-capable yet and am not overly optimistic on either. Z-Mack and Ibanez can be fun underdogs at times, but they are exposed over the long haul. Baez, too.
Hopefully Harris upgrades the roster this offseason, I doubt the Tigers will move on from Baez yet. Maybe SS in ’26 will be a platoon of Baez/Z-Mack or Baez/McGonigle. I’d bring up McGonigle for 2B/SS and leave Colt at 3B fulltime.
Kyle Tucker is the big FA OF, but the TIgers really need a RH’ed bopper more. Vierling when healthy doesn’t give you that much power.
I’d like to see Carp get more AB’s against LHP & DH when not RF, and see Riley get fewer AB’s against LHP. Meadows has a lot to prove next year. Max Clark is knocking on the door and there’s only going to be so much room for LH OFers, esp ones with a .647 OPS.
Time for Jung to show his stuff or he might be done in Detroit.
Yeah, I wonder what the Tigers are going to do about the roster glut with Rule 5 draft. I wonder if they’ll try to trade some of their so-far-only-4A-level players to free up space.
Lol, he has 124 career at bats. He got a real shot there man. Still managed a .320 OBP. But yes, give up on him. If this is how Tigers fans are, he should probably want to leave.
lol the guy can’t hit a fastball. How many major league hitters have you seen that can’t hit a ball thrown 96mph+? Sorry, I shouldn’t be asking you that, you would actually have to watch a few games to be able to answer that. Lol
Rick…he’s been up a few times and shown nothing except that he can take a walk. He’s defensively limited so he needs to hit to stick. Max Anderson and Lee will pass him on the depth chart for 2026 if he doesn’t have a good showing (and they may already have done so). No one is giving up on him, we are just stating the obvious from watching our team.
Motor city… you ARE giving up way too fast on Jung, not everyone has to be a world beater to contribute. It’s a little silly to write off young depth as not living up to expectations, depth is depth because it wasn’t good enough to stick in a regular MLB role, adjust your expectations accordingly and accept baseball is a long term game… 100 at bats isn’t enough of a sample to write off anyone.
The Tigers are slumping in crunch time and that’s just part of the deal. Separate your disappointment and feelings of impending doom and enjoy the ride. Just two weeks ago people were claiming Flarehty should be left out of the postseason rotation and now he’s back to pitching like a true number 2. Things change quick.
This team is young and possesses postseason experience, when it’s playoff time and every pitch matters, they will rise to the occasion and Hinch will have them ready to compete.
Im not writing anyone off dude. I wrote off Tork and look what happened there. I like Jung but the reality is baseball is a numbers game and Max Anderson has for sure passed him on the depth chart with Lee and McGonigle in the future mix at 2b, SS and 3b. His time is now, or he might be trade bait in 2026. It happens.
I am not panicked about Detroit not making the playoffs and when they get there it is anybody game. Cheers Druuu
Actually…..
Greene, drafted in 2019, is just now hitting his stride, earned only $800K this year and is going to arbitration,A1,this year.
Torkelson, was brought up early, so he seems.like a vet we’ve had our eyes on him for so long…..was drafted in 2020, earned just over $700K this year and is also.headed to arbitration A1 this year.Still not.in full stride yet.
Jung wasn’t drafted until 2022, also brought up early. Has not yet had proper time to develop at the MLB level….
Ditto Sweeney, drafted in 2021.
I never trucked much with calling Chris Illich cheap…or rather “payroll/salary challanged”…..
But when you realize what they have paid Greene,$812K, Tork, $785K, Mize, $2M, Skub, $10M…….
I can’t even get a break on my rent….. it just doesn’t seem right….
Epic baseball name.
Hope he’s ready for October.
A baffling call-up. Do they have any realistic expectations that he’ll contribute?
I know he’s still Jung, but he has to be able to contribute. Pun/homophone intended.
To be replaced by Jaguar Jack, Dolphin Don, and Titan Tito
Tigers sinking like a stone. Cleveland should be within 2.5 after Friday night’s ugliness.
I don’t want to see Charlie Morton on the mound unless we’re up or down by 7 runs.
He was on the mound down 7 runs tonight. Correction: only 6. Could have left him in longer to meet your directive
But this is the team that makes players better right? Fetter and Lund the best pitching coaches in baseball can make a homeless guy a MLB pitcher, right?
Bad Mojo…they do make pitchers better and the pitchers still have to pitch effectively becausecthey cant do that fir them. Morton is 18 years in. Big difference between tweaking him and Melton. Look at Finnegan and the guy they got from Atlanta who have been lights out and were meh before they came.
Nah
Tee hee Ohio > Muchigan
Did you actually type “tee hee?”
‘I got to come out of the game. I got to come out of the game”
Means he’s probably not faking it, right?
Yes since he said it twice and with “passion.”
Had he not repeated his demand or said it without much passion, he would have clearly been faking it.
It was the missing, “‘ve”, that alerted me.