There is certainly plenty of blame to go around for the Detroit Tigers miserable first third of the 2026 season. There’s plenty of time to yell at Scott Harris, Jeff Greenberg, and A.J. Hinch, but the simplest truth is that this is just a ridiculous amounts of injuries to overcome, and unfortunately they added two more to the injured cohort during Wednesday night’s victory over the Los Angeles Angels. Both Casey Mize and Kenley Jansen have already been a little banged up this year though Jansen avoided the injury list. They both left the game with discomfort that sounds like adductor strains in the groin, with Mize leaving after four innings and Jansen having to call the training staff with two outs in the ninth inning.
The Tigers were already saddled with more injuries to the Opening Day roster than any team in the game. Absorbing the loss of Mize and Jansen makes mounting some kind of comeback from this point until even harder than it already was. In the wake of Brant Hurter, Ty Madden, and Burch Smith all added to the already extremely long list over the past two weeks, this is just plain cruel. There is some help on the horizon for the rotation, but they may only weaken a bullpen that is now missing Brant Hurter, Jansen, and Burch Smith, in the process.
Probably the obvious move right now is to move Drew Anderson into the rotation. After a rough start in April adjusting to the major leagues and a relief role, Anderson has been on a real heater and seems to be coming into his own as a pretty good major league pitcher. Walks have been a problem in a few outings, but for the most part he’s been dominant, with a strikeout rate over 29 percent. His outstanding changeup gives him a great pitch to handle left-handed hitters, and that makes him the best arm to add to the rotation right now. The Tigers have a club option on him for 2027, so a tryout in the rotation also makes sense in terms of developing their long term options in a season that is close to a lost cause already.
The problem with this is that the Tigers biggest weakness this season has probably been their bullpen. Losing Anderson really puts that unit in much worse shape considering the other recent losses. Will Vest is still a little shaky after forearm inflammation that required weeks on the injured list. If Will Vest was Will Vest, losing Anderson is less of a problem, but without Anderson, Vest, Kyle Finnegan and Tyler Holton’s issues will only be magnified.
Just to dial in on the underlying point, the Tigers are second in blown saves with 12. On top of that, only three teams have fewer holds from their bullpen. Despite the fact that the loss of Kerry Carpenter, Gleyber Torres, Javier Báez, and Parker Meadows have really torn up the offense and caused their run production to drop precipitously through much of May, they’ve overall been in plenty of games that the bullpen couldn’t lock down. Just average work in this regard from the pen, say eight blown saves instead of 12, and the Tigers might well have another four wins. Rather than sitting on the brink of an early firesale, they would be sitting eight games under .500 and still, surprisingly, right in the thick of the chase for the final wild card. Instead, they’re 12 games below .500, and just another losing series or two from surrendering even the slim hope of a comeback that could give them a chance to get healthy and try to make an improbable push from now until the All-Star break.
The offense and defense have certainly contributed their share to this mess as well.
Still, it could be the right move to put Drew Anderson in the rotation until Tarik Skubal is ready to return. That feels like it’s going to be roughly three weeks away as the ace’s last bullpen went great by all reports, but only consisted of 39 pitches. He’s going to need several outings just to get back toward full workload and then decide if he’s going to make a rehab start in Triple-A before returning or not. That’s assuming there are no setbacks.
One more option is to keep Anderson in a flexible role, and wait on Ty Madden, who is eligible to come off the injured list from his right forearm contusion on May 30, to work as the bulk reliever on Mize’s start days. Madden did well in that role for a few outings in May. However, they decide to use the duo, Madden’s presence, who posted a 2.38 ERA with excellent strikeout, walk, and home run numbers in three appearances, is mandatory. Hopefully he’ll be on schedule to return as expected because he’s earned some leash and is another player who could be part of the future plans.
Of course whenever Madden is on track to return, they’re going to need a pure relief arm to take Kenley Jansen’s spot if he hits the injured list as well.
One option to replace Jansen is to call up Beau Brieske. The right-hander is still rehabbing on the 60-day IL, has his velocity and stuff back, and has now made seven appearances in the minors. The problem is that he’s been abysmal and really doesn’t have his command back yet. To activate him off the 60-day IL, someone would have to be DFA’d, and working back from a left adductor (groin) strain is the kind of injury that can take a little time to get back in rhythm from. Understandably, the Tigers aren’t going to want to do that unless Brieske starts spotting his fourseam and changeup combination better in Toledo.
Another option is to try right-hander Woo-Suk Go. The Korean reliever has been outstanding working at the Double and Triple-A level this season. Go has a strikeout rate a bit over 40 percent with a 1.38 ERA/2.22 FIP combination, though his walks have really spiked since moving to Toledo and using the ABS challenge system. The 27-year-old has a pretty average fastball averaging 93-94 mph with average life, but his 89 cutter has given him a weapon to keep hitters off the fastball and induce weak contact. He backs that with a good 80-81 mph curve that has drawn a 70 percent whiff rate for the Mud Hens, albeit in a very small sample, and a good splitter that he’ll break out against lefties but doesn’t have particularly good command over.
Go would need a 40-man roster spot, but they have candidates to DFA on the 40-man. They might also have to consider moving Javier Báez to the 60-day IL as his ankle has failed to heal up as expected. He was set to see a specialist on Wednesday, and so the Tigers should have a better idea whether they need to move him to the 60-day or whether he’s still got a shot to return sooner.
Of course, with Brant Hurter dealing with lumbar spine inflammation, the Tigers are also short a left-hander to handle part of the spot start duties. That might me Enmanuel de Jesus, but they’ll still prefer to add a lefty to the pen if possible should de Jesus end up pairing with Madden to cover Casey Mize’s starts. Southpaw Drew Sommers is on the 40-man already, and he’s punched out a whopping 37.6 percent of hitters for the Mud Hens this season in 21 innings of work. He has a 3.00 ERA, so he’s gotten the job done, but his walk rate is well on the high side at 11.8 percent.
Of course, we don’t know as of this writing if Mize and Jansen are hitting the 15-day injured list, but it certainly seems like that’s where this is headed. Ty Madden is the one really obvious answer here, because if he’s healed up he’s both the best option, and the one that keeps Drew Anderson freed up and available for fireman and closer duties as required in the bullpen. The second man up is really the question mark, but we should find out on Thursday. My guess, is that it will be Sommers, at least until Brieske starts to dial in his command a little more. Maybe Sawyer Gipson-Long gets a look instead. Either way this pitching staff is bound to be even harder pressed for a little while.
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