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Detroit Tigers place Reese Olson on injured list; Kenta Maeda 'an option' to join rotation
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- Detroit Tigers place Reese Olson on injured list; Kenta Maeda 'an option' to join rotation
TORONTO — The Detroit Tigers will be without right-hander Reese Olson for an unknown period of time.
Olson, who has a 3.23 ERA in 19 starts, landed on the 15-day injured list Sunday with a right shoulder strain. The shoulder injury forced Olson to exit Saturday's game after two innings against the Toronto Blue Jays at Rogers Centre.
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It sounds like Olson will miss more than two weeks.
"The initial diagnosis with Reese is a strained shoulder," manager A.J. Hinch said before Sunday's game, "and the initial read of his tests are probably as positive as we can get, but still, he's going to be a bit. ... It's a bummer to lose him and know he's going to be out for a little bit of time."
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Detroit Tigers pitcher Reese Olson (45) places the ball behind his head during the first inning against the Toronto Blue Jays at Rogers Centre in Toronto on Saturday, July 20, 2024.
The Tigers are down to just three pitchers in the starting rotation: left-hander Tarik Skubal , right-hander Jack Flaherty and right-hander Keider Montero .
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Keep in mind, the Tigers plan to trade Flaherty before the July 30 trade deadline, but that's a problem for next week.
As for this week, right-hander Kenta Maeda seems likely to return to the rotation after two relief appearances. Before Sunday's game, the Tigers recalled left-handed reliever Easton Lucas — the only remaining healthy pitcher on the 40-man roster — from Triple-A Toledo to take Olson's spot, thus adding to the bullpen.
"He'll be an option, for sure," Hinch said of Maeda.
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Detroit Tigers pitcher Kenta Maeda (18) throws a pitch against Chicago White Sox during the fourth inning at Comerica Park in Detroit on Saturday, June 22, 2024.
The Tigers demoted Maeda from the rotation to the bullpen for performance reasons , but as the result of multiple injuries to three starting pitchers on the 40-man roster, he is expected to shed his new role for his old role.
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The multiple injuries: Olson, right-hander Casey Mize and right-hander Matt Manning .
Mize hasn't experienced a setback, but he is progressing slowly in his recovery from a left hamstring strain , simply for precautionary reasons. Manning, who has spent most of the season in Triple-A Toledo, reported a right lat strain over the All-Star break.
"I feel for him," Hinch said of Manning, who has a 4.88 ERA with the Tigers and a 4.53 ERA with the Mud Hens. "It's been a trying year for him, and this is the latest thing he's had to deal with. Hopefully, they've caught it early enough to where we can still get some more out of him this season, but there's not much more you can do with the type of injury that he has other than just rest and recover."
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The Tigers have four games coming up against the Cleveland Guardians at Progressive Field from Monday through Thursday. The pitching plan is set for the first three games with Skubal on Monday, bullpen-only on Tuesday and Flaherty on Wednesday.
Maeda threw 43 pitches out of the bullpen Saturday and would be lined up to start Thursday, but the Tigers haven't finalized the plan for Thursday's series finale. Another option for the Tigers is two bullpen games in Cleveland.
"Probably not for Tuesday," Hinch said of the immediate plan for Maeda, who has a 7.07 ERA in 18 games (16 starts). "We'll stick with the bullpen game like we planned. We have 10 relievers now, given Easton coming up for Reese. It's hard to have 10 relievers nowadays with the roster limitations, but we do, which should allow us to have a lot of options on Tuesday. When we get to Thursday, we'll have to see if it's Kenta. If he's needed before then, we'll see."
Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him @EvanPetzold .
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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Tigers place Reese Olson on injured list with shoulder strain
