Jahmai Jones of the Detroit Tigers had his first start of the season canceled due to a stomach flu. He has been waiting for a chance to face a left-handed pitcher after 16 consecutive games against right-handers.
Detroit ā The world aināt right.
Lefty-slayer Jahmai Jones has patiently waited all season for the Tigers to face a left-handed starting pitcher.
For 16 straight games, teams sent one right-hander after another to the mound. Which meant Jones, with his .970 OPS against lefties last season, had to wait for a possible pinch-hit at-bat against a lefty reliever later in the game.
The Detroit Tigersā Jahmai Jones points out to Andy Ibanez after Ibanez drove in Jones in the first inning in a game against the Houston Astros at Comerica Park in Detroit on Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2025.
And he only got six of those through the first two-plus weeks of the season.
Finally, the Kansas City Royals come to town and lefty Cole Ragans is starting the first game of the series. At last, Jones will get a start.
Nope.
āHe waited six days for a left-handed starter and he came up sick today,ā manager AJ Hinch said.
The stomach virus passed through the Tigers' clubhouse while the team was in Minnesota last weekend and finally caught up to Jones Monday.
āHeās had a rough 24 hours,ā Hinch said. āI had him in the original lineup and got notified this morning he wasnāt feeling well.ā
Jones was expected to lead off and play right field. Instead, Gleyber Torres, who served as the designated-hitter, will bat first against Ragans and switch-hitter Wenceel Perez was inserted into the lineup in right field.
Jones should get another chance in this series. The Royals have scheduled lefty Kris Bubic to start the finale on Thursday.
First pitch: 6:40 p.m. Wednesday, Comerica Park, Detroit
TV/radio: Detroit SportsNet/97.1 FM
Scouting report
RHP Seth Lugo (1-1, 1.53), Royals: Maybe there werenāt enough buttons on the PitchCom to accommodate all 10 of his pitches (joke), but heās dropped the splitter from his arsenal. Heās ādownā to nine pitches now. Heās been effectively leaning on his four-seamer and sinker this year (hitters are 3 for 19 combined). Right-handed hitters are 1 for 20 against him. Overall, heās allowed three earned runs in 17.2 innings, holding hitters to a .206 average and .561 OPS.
RHP Jack Flaherty (0-1, 5.14), Tigers: Heās coming off his best start of the young season, holding a hot Twins team to one runs with six strikeouts over 5.2 innings last Thursday. He was displeased by the three walks, but he was spotting his four-seamer consistently and he had a good feel for both his slider and knuckle-curve. The Twins whiffed on four of eight swings and took six called strikes against the knuckle-curve.
@cmccosky
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Tigers outfielder Jahmai Jones is sidelined with stomach flu tonight
Jahmai Jones' first start was canceled due to a stomach flu.
Jahmai Jones waited for 16 straight games to face a left-handed starting pitcher.
Jahmai Jones had a .970 OPS against left-handed pitchers last season.
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