The Tigers will have to move forward without Jack Flaherty for now.
Detroit placed the right-hander on the 15-day injured list with flexor inflammation and brought up Ty Madden from Triple-A Toledo to fill his spot on the pitching staff. The injury appears to have surfaced during Flaherty’s start at Wrigley Field yesterday. He was lifted after four innings, though at the time that exit was thought to be tied to an inefficient outing in which he needed 82 pitches to get through the frame.
Flaherty allowed three runs on four hits and walked two before coming out.
This is the second time he’s landed on the injured list this season. He also missed a brief stretch in mid-June because of a peroneal strain.
According to Jason Beck of MLB.com, the Tigers view this latest forearm issue as minor and are hoping it turns into another short absence. Even so, it will keep Flaherty out past the August 3 trade deadline.
That timing matters. Flaherty is headed for free agency and would be one of Detroit’s trade chips if the club decides to sell, ranking behind only Tarik Skubal and Casey Mize among the most attractive possibilities.
He carries a 4.59 ERA over 19 starts, but the strikeout stuff has remained strong at 26.2%. After a rough opening stretch, he had started to settle in, posting a 2.67 ERA across 33 2/3 innings in his last seven outings.
His $20MM salary complicates any deal, though contenders could still have interest based on how he’s pitched. The Tigers can trade him while he’s on the injured list, but that would add another layer to any negotiations.
And Detroit still hasn’t decided whether it’s buying or selling. The club has recovered from a brutal May and sits within 4.5 games of a playoff spot.
It’s still six games under .500, but the schedule ahead gives them a path to stay in the race. They’ll host the Royals for four games this weekend, then get the Orioles for three, followed by a three-game series against an A’s team that’s been struggling.
After the deadline, the Tigers still have two series each against the White Sox and Guardians, their two biggest divisional rivals, with a chance to chip away at a 6.5-game deficit in the AL Central.
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Andrew Painter is the name that makes the idea pop, even if it remains only a speculative framework for now. The 23-year-old still carries the kind of upside that keeps him in the conversation despite recent major-league struggles, and any real Skubal discussion would hinge on how much the Tigers value that long-term control versus the immediate impact of dealing an ace who would be more of a short-term rental for a contender. [Read more 🡒]