Should Detroit Tigers be concerned about non-Tarik Skubal starters?
On “Days of Roar,” Nick Pollack, founder of “Pitcher List,” evaluates the Detroit Tigers’ starting rotation — aside from left-hander Tarik Skubal.
Detroit Tigers third baseman Colt Keith is out for the remainder of the regular season after being placed on the injured list with right rib cage inflammation.
The 24-year-old revealed he is suffering from an intercostal strain.
There’s no timetable for his return, but he hopes to join the Tigers for the postseason.
“It’s tough to rotate right now without feeling pain,” Keith said Saturday, Sept. 20, before the second of three games against the Atlanta Braves at Comerica Park, one day after landing on the injured list. “We’re just working on getting that inflammation down and go from there. I’m going to do everything I can to get back for playoffs.”
Whether or not Keith is available for the beginning of the postseason could depend on how the Tigers perform in their final eight games of the regular season, which ends Sept. 28. The wild-card series begins Sept. 30, but the ALDS begins Oct. 4.
The Tigers are currently positioned for the wild-card series.
“Still waiting to see,” Keith said. “Once this inflammation gets down, we’ll start doing some physical things, like swinging, throwing, running, and we’ll see where we’re at from there.”
The intercostal strain happened in the second inning of Thursday’s 3-1 loss to the Cleveland Guardians, with Keith removing himself from the game. Before the injury, Keith put the Tigers ahead, 1-0, with an RBI double.
He suffered the injury on that swing.
“I felt it on the swing originally, and then it really started hurting me when I was running after that,” Keith said. “I felt a pinch or something in the rib cage.”
Without Keith, the Tigers will turn to Andy Ibáñez as the third baseman against left-handed pitchers and a combination of Jace Jung, Zach McKinstry and Trey Sweeney against right-handed pitchers.
Jung replaced Keith on the roster.
“Not much has changed,” manager A.J. Hinch said before Saturday’s game, with Ibáñez starting against left-hander Joey Wentz. “The names, maybe, but it’s still the same. We have to make a daily decision based on the circumstance.”
In 2025, Keith hit .256 with 13 home runs, 48 walks and 102 strikeouts across 137 games, posting a .746 OPS. He started 32 games at third base, 21 at second base and 17 at first base, along with 43 as the designated hitter.
Keith is on the injured list for the first time in his two-year MLB career.
“It really sucks,” Keith said. “I just really want to be out there and help the team win in this stretch. I’m going to do everything that you possibly can from the bench until I can get back out there.”
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Injured Matt Vierling remains hopeful
Outfielder/third baseman Matt Vierling has been injured for most of the 2025 season.
The injuries have limited him to 31 games.
The 29-year-old suffered a right shoulder injury in late February, re-injured his shoulder in late May, suffered a left oblique strain in mid-August and experienced an setback in mid-September.
“I’m holding out hope for anything,” Vierling said before Saturday’s game. “I’m just trying to be available. If I got to play through something just to be available, we’ll see.”
The goal is for Vierling to be ready to join the Tigers within the next 14 days. If he returns in 14 days, he would be eligible for the ALDS that begins Oct. 4.
He is completing some running and throwing drills as part of his rehab program.
But he isn’t swinging yet.
“It’s super hard,” said Vierling, hitting .239 with one home run and a .617 OPS in 31 games. “It’s probably one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to go through, just to deal with the constant ups and downs of this. As soon as I get going, all of the sudden, something happens. That’s how the year has gone.”
Only 2 lefty relievers
When the Tigers activated right-handed reliever Kyle Finnegan from the injured list before Friday’s game, right-handed reliever Chris Paddack could’ve been cut, but instead, left-handed reliever Bailey Horn was optioned to Triple-A Toledo, ruling him out for the remainder of the regular season.
Pitchers who are optioned must stay in the minor leagues for at least 15 days.
Right now, the Tigers have just two left-handed relievers in their bullpen: Tyler Holton and Brant Hurter.
“Configuring our bullpen is always as the top of our thought process,” Hinch said before Friday’s game, “and you have to make a call on what we feel is best, both now — and it still allows him to return if there is an injury or something like that.”
The problem is the Tigers would benefit from three left-handed relievers in their upcoming three-game series against the Cleveland Guardians at Progressive Field.
The Guardians have seven left-handed hitters (and three switch-hitters) among their 14 position players.
The only other left-handed reliever on the Tigers’ 40-man roster is Drew Sommers, but he isn’t eligible to join the Tigers from Triple-A Toledo until Sept. 26 after being optioned Sept. 11. (The non-40-man roster candidates are Triple-A starters Lael Lockhart, Nick Margevicius and Thomas Szapucki.)
The series between the Tigers and Guardians is scheduled for Sept. 23-25.
“The message to him was every opportunity that he has gotten, he’s inched forward in a little bit of more responsibility, more innings,” Hinch said of Horn, who had a 1.59 ERA across 11â…“ innings. “He helped us win with what he could.”
Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him @EvanPetzold.
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