The Tigers announced today that they have placed outfielder Victor Reyes on the injured list with a left quad strain. Fellow outfielder Derek Hill has been recalled to take his place on the roster.
Cody Stavenhagen of The Athletic relays word from Reyes, who says he’s been battling the injury all season. Despite that, he was off to a fairly strong start to the year. Reyes has a strikeout rate of 16% so far this year, well below his career mark of 22.1%. Similarly, his walk rate is at 8% on the young campaign, more than double his 3.9% career rate. His 112 wRC+ is also quite healthy, compared to the 82 he’s put up in his career so far. Of course, this is a tiny sample of just ten games and it would be unwise to draw sweeping conclusions from it, though there are positive signs in his Statcast profile as well, with his .394 xBA easily outpacing his numbers from previous years. It’s surely discouraging for the 27-year-old to have to sit out the next little while after a promising start to the year. Evan Woodbery of MLive relays word from manager A.J. Hinch, who apparently had a challenging time giving Reyes the news. Based on the fact that Reyes wanted to keep playing, it shouldn’t be a lengthy absence.
In more positive news for the Tigers, a couple of their offseason acquisitions could be returning from injuries shortly. Hinch told reporters that shortstop Javier Baez and reliever Andrew Chafin should be back in the coming days. (Twitter links from Woodbery) Baez played in five games for the Tigers, hitting .316/.350/.526, before being placed on the IL with thumb soreness. Chafin was signed by the Tigers to a two-year, $13MM deal but has yet to appear for the team due to a groin strain. Whenever they return, they will bolster the lineup and the bullpen, respectively. In the absence of Baez, the Tigers have been relying on two Castros, Willi and Harold, to fill the shortstop position. Gregory Soto is the only lefty in the club’s bullpen right now, but he has been deployed in the closer role, leaving the club a bit short-handed in the southpaw department.
It will be nice to see how this team actually is if they can all get healthy. They really need a legit CF though… Hill can’t hit at all, Reyes isn’t the answer there, neither is Baddoo. They should loot the farm and try to get Bryan Reynolds.
Respectfully disagree. Reyes is hitting better than Reynolds right now, and he’s proven in the last few games he deserves to stick around, at least as a backup.. Hill proved last year he can hit respectably and provide some entertaining defense (granted, he probably gets hurt too often.) but he really deserves a chance to play. And then there’s Daz Cameron, too!! So before we “loot the farm”, let’s calm down and give Hill a chance…..I bet he plays tonight. and will at least be given a look over the next week or so. If he flops, then, yeah, move on.
Riley Greene will be back by June. Why trade for a centerfielder to block their best prospect?
We’ll find out if anyone can step up, but you’re right Greene is the long term answer .
Honest to God. Riley is going to be a CF fixture for years.
If this team can ever get healthy together and STAY healthy, they can be a .500 team in my opinion. I do believe we are still atleast a year away from being a contending team, but these young kids (Greene, Tork,Mize, Skubal, Manning, Brisket, etc) need to get right and get some playing time under their belts. This year is going to be all about taking your lumps in the bigs, that way next year when they truly are ready to legitimately go for a playoff spot, they will have some experience to build on. So for this year, we can all just enjoy seeing what we’ve got, then decide who to sign in 2023 free agency to fill in the gaps.
Mmmm.. brisket
@Dtown
I think you’re looking at the floor for this team, this year. Hopefully they are seeing their injuries early and things will gel as the season progresses. The depth in the bullpen has been an unexpected surprise. Next year should be even more fun. But I’m not aiming at only .500 just yet.
Agreed, I think 85 or even 90 wins is possible this year.
85 ceiling 75 floor.
2023- 85 floor? Maybe. Depends if Miggy wants that last check or retires…
Personally, I think the Tigers will win somewhere between 80 and 90 games this season. I’ll say 85.