Return of Casey Mize headlines slew of Tigers injury updates

Mize’s layoff ultimately be close to the minimum of 15 days helped Hinch feel like bringing him right back to the majors was the right call.

“So the fact that it's only been, I think it's gonna be minimum plus a day, which is really a scheduling thing, not a health thing, it gives us comfort knowing that he can go out and give us generally what we feel like he would give us,” Hinch said. “Now, maybe dial back a little bit of the pitch count because the intensity is going to increase, but we can deal with that in the sixth or sixth tomorrow and not have any fear that the volume (affects him), or he's not ready for that type of assignment.”

A roster move to get Mize on the active roster will come prior to the Tigers facing the Blue Jays for a 1:10 p.m. first pitch Saturday.

And Mize is just the tip of the iceberg on a number of relatively promising injury updates Hinch shared about the beat-up Tigers organization.

Beau Brieske is set to start on the mound for Toledo on Friday evening, Hinch said. Brieske has been on the 60-day injured list since March 23 with a left adductor strain.

Relief pitcher Will Vest also will pitch for Toledo on Friday, Hinch said. Vest went on the 15-day injured list with right lateral forearm inflammation on May 2, and since has gotten an injection to help deal with the inflammation. Friday will be his first game action on his rehab assignment.

“Those two guys will pitch tonight for Toledo, working their way back to full strength, which is great news,” Hinch said.

Justin Verlander, who has been on the injured list since early in the season as he deals with left hip inflammation, threw a 50-pitch live bullpen session to hitters, Hinch said, and came away from that performance in good shape.

Hinch said it was the equivalent of a three-inning simulated game for Verlander, and the discussions afterward were primarily about his pitching and execution and not his health.

“Threw 50 pitches, which was great,” Hinch said. “One, because it signals that he had no residual soreness or issue during his outing. And afterwards, it was entirely about the pitch quality, which was better than the last time he threw off the mound.”

Verlander originally went on the 15-day injured list on April 4, but got moved to the 60-day IL on May 10.

Two position players for Detroit, Kerry Carpenter and Gleyber Torres, are yet to be ready for a rehab assignment, Hinch said.

Torres is running and throwing in Toledo and trending toward beginning a rehab assignment, but is still coming along with the left oblique strain that put him on the 10-day injured list as of May 4.

Carpenter is seemingly further off from a return, but picked up some physical activity with a football on the field hours before Friday’s game.

Carpenter, who is on the 10-day injured list as of May 10 with a left AC joint sprain, is still working to recapture his range of motion and be able to use his left arm fully, Hinch said. Carpenter naturally needs to progress into throwing and more regular baseball activity before a rehab assignment comes into focus.

“So he's run a little bit, and he said that he's had his glove on today and they're continuing to try to get the inflammation out of his shoulder and for him to be able to tolerate baseball type activity,” Hinch said. “So we think it can go relatively fast, but until he's doing all things, even at a sort of guarded speed, we can't really advance him, but things were better than they were when we last saw him at the beginning of that road trip.”

And with Mize set to return, Vest and Brieske close to back, Verlander progressing well and Carpenter and Torres continuing to work back — plus good news on Tarik Skubal’s elbow surgery rehab — Hinch and the Tigers might have a case for some cautious optimism after a brutal stretch.

The Tigers got dealt injury after injury through April and into early May and has slipped well below .500, troubling portents for a team that entered the season with a focus on contending.

But with so much having already gone sideways, with so much season left to play, and so many players hurt but with a chance to still contribute, Hinch addressed the duality of Detroit baseball at the moment.

“We're a difficult team to dissect, because you can go down a couple paths of really liking some things that are ahead,” Hinch said. “We're gonna get healthy. We're gonna get our team back intact. We're gonna certainly play better, you know, than we've played to this point. Or you can also dwell on the things that haven't gone well. You're probably right, no matter which way you choose to walk.”

Andrew Graham is a freelance writer.

This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Return of Casey Mize headlines slew of Detroit Tigers injury updates