Tarik Skubal surgery set for Wednesday; Justin Verlander to face hitters

Detroit – The medical updates are unrelenting with the Tigers these days. At least on Tuesday, there were some encouraging developments.

Start with lefty ace Tarik Skubal.

Manager AJ Hinch announced that the two-time Cy Young winner has surgery scheduled Wednesday to remove loose bodies from his left elbow. Hinch, out of respect for Skubal’s privacy, didn’t say which surgeon would be doing the surgery.

“I want to get this done as soon as possible so I can get back and help this team as soon as possible,” Skubal said on Monday when it was announced that he was going on the injured list and the surgery would be needed.

▶ Gleyber Torres: It qualifies as a positive that the Tigers’ second baseman was not put on the injured list. He’s still dealing with soreness in his left side and he was held out of the starting lineup for the second straight game, but he is inching closer to being cleared.

“Feeling better,” Torres said. “Been doing therapy, trying to get ready. I’m still feeling it a little bit.”

He did defensive drills on Monday and took batting practice Tuesday. He was hopeful he could be available to pinch-hit if needed.

“Still not quite ready to give him a full work day,” Hinch said. “Right now I’d rather play the fully healthy (Hao-Yu) Lee with the ball-in-play with Framber Valdez pitching over risking too much with Gleyber. We hope he is ready to go as early as tomorrow.”

Torres banged his left hip on a slide and tumble at home plate Saturday.

“The good part is, the MRI didn’t show anything,” Torres said. “I think there’s a bruise inside there. I am trying to do everything possible to be on the field.”

▶ Justin Verlander: He is scheduled to throw another bullpen before the game Wednesday. Hinch said the next step will be to face hitters in simulated games during the upcoming trip to and New York.