Tigers getting closer to key pitchers returning from injuries

After a rough 30 days, the Tigers are hopefully looking for a light at the end of the tunnel.

It seemed that sunshine finally might be shining on them, or maybe it was just the sight of those alternate orange jerseys the Tigers wore when Spencer Torkelson hit a 2-out walk-off single last night to end their three-game losing streak.

But even in a win, there always has to be a catch. The Tigers' injury problems continued on Friday, when a line drive hit relief pitcher Ty Madden in the right arm during the third inning.

More: Tigers' Mize to return, start against Blue Jays on Saturday

Tigers pitcher Ty Madden (36) was injured in the third inning of Friday's game against the Blue Jays.

"We don't have anything yet. Ty was going to do a little throwing and see where he's at," said A.J. Hinch. The arm's pretty swollen, so obviously we're waiting on the medical evaluation first, and if not, then we'll have a separate transaction."

That transaction got announced just about 40 minutes before first pitch, as Mize was activated off the 15-day IL list while Brenan Hanifee gets optioned to Toledo in Triple-A.

Mize's return is one of many that the Tigers hope can come to the pitching rotation, as they're already navigating through Tarik Skubal's elbow injury.

Hinch also gave updates on Will Vest and Beau Brieske, who both pitched in Toledo last night as part of their rehab assignment. Vest pitched just one inning but gave up no hits and had a strikeout.

"I would expect him to be a candidate as early as tomorrow, given the velocity ticked up a little bit back to his norm, and I haven't talked to him today, but I expect him to," Hinch said of Vest. As for Brieske, Hinch said he was "awesome" as an opener in yesterday's Triple-A game.

"I mean, high-end velocity and stuff, and he did the opener thing. I mean, he got dinged for a run, but it was a good step in the right direction," Hinch said of Brieske, who gave up a run and two hits in two innings in action while also getting a strikeout.

Injuries have done more than enough damage to the Tigers in this early MLB season. Sitting at 20-25 and tied for third in the AL Central, despite being 3.5 games below the leading Guardians, things haven't gone as expected for a team that had high expectations entering the 2026 season.

"Well you can't replay the games, and I don't think it's ever really too late, but I hope you don't evaluate us now, because I don't like how we got here. We haven't been our best, but despite that, we need to execute better as a whole, regardless of who's playing and who's not here. We have capable enough guys in there to play a better brand of baseball, and when we do, we win, and when we don't, we struggle," Hinch said.

One player who stepped up was reliever Drew Anderson, who pitched four straight innings and didn't give up a run, only allowing one hit and striking out one batter in his longest relief appearance of the season so far. It was so impressive that that the question arose of Anderson being a possible starter option in the future.

"I mean, it didn't have to wait for five days. He did it and we've always hovered him short and long, and the versatility has always been attracted to us, so maybe. We may need it before that in a shorter stint, or we might need a length once he gets a couple days off," Hinch said.

The Tigers are looking to win their first series since early May, when they took two out of three against the Rangers. Their record has been 2-8 since then, getting swept by the Red Sox and Mets, two teams that are at the bottom of their respective divisions.

But maybe fortunes are finally changing. That 3-2 walkoff win against the Blue Jays last night was the first time the Tigers won a series-opening game in over a month, winning the first in a three-game sweep of the Royals in mid-April.

"We have a chance to win this series today, and it feels like we haven't won a series in a while, so we focus on that, it takes all attention away from what we haven't done or the prospects of what is ahead of the roster that wasn't necessarily our intended roster, but it is our reality roster, and if we keep that mindset, we'll be a better team for it."

This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Tigers getting closer to key pitchers returning from injuries