Detroit – Jason Foley’s season has ended before it ever had a chance to get started.
Manager AJ Hinch announced Tuesday that Foley, a stalwart in the Tigers’ bullpen the last three seasons, had season-ending shoulder surgery last week.
“As you would imagine, he’s frustrated with the result but determined to get back better than ever,” Hinch said.
Foley, 29, who pitched in 199 games covering 189.1 innings the last three years, leading the team with 28 saves last season, was expected to resume his leverage role again this season.
But he never got untracked this spring and was among the final cuts out of spring training. He made just five appearances at Triple-A Toledo and was virtually unhittable – 6.2 scoreless, one-hit innings with nine strikeouts and no walks.
And then he was shut down with the right shoulder strain.
“Anytime you say the word season-ending, that’s tough on everybody, most notably the player,” Hinch said. “He worked really hard this winter to get himself in a position to have a successful season.
“Then the jolt of not having a good spring and getting sent out, then the injury. He’s going to want to forget 2025 and rightfully so.”
Foley was shut down almost exactly at the time the Tigers were ready to bring him back up. Relievers Beau Brieske and John Brebbia both had stints on the injured list after Foley went down.
“He was very much going to be part of building a successful season here,” Hinch said. “I feel for him. I love him as a competitor and I know he will attack his rehab.”
Rogers rehabbing
Catcher Jake Rogers sat in front of his locker on Saturday after finishing a set of running and throwing drills.
“Release me to the wolves,” he said.
Close. On Tuesday, the Tigers released him to the Hens, the Triple-A Toledo Mud Hens, to start a rehab assignment.
“The dirty hens,” he said.
Rogers has been out since April 8 with an oblique strain but he’s been doing a full load of baseball activities for close to two weeks.
“He’s done everything multiple times,” Hinch said. “And he’s been itching to get out.”
Hinch said Rogers will hit the ground running, catching most games with an occasional designated-hitter game. The maximum stay for a rehab assignment is 21 days.
Rogers isn’t expected to take that long. He went 2 for 3 with a double in his Mud Hens’ debut Tuesday.
Rogers was the primary catcher before the injury and since he’s been out, Dillon Dingler has taken off, hitting .282 with four homers and plus-5 catcher runs defensively.
It’s likely there will be more of a 50-50 timeshare of the catching duties when Rogers gets back.
Sweeney sizzles
Shortstop Trey Sweeney was scuffling along at the end of April, hitting .198. Then the calendar turned.
Entering play Tuesday, Sweeney was slashing .425/.439/.675 with three home runs and 10 RBI in 10 games in May.
Was there any specific adjustment that unlocked him?
“Not necessarily,” he said. “I think just continuing to battle and stay confident and keep working on my at-bats. If anything, it was just me adjusting naturally and kind of getting on time.”
There have been some subtle differences in his stance. He’s closed his stance by 5 degrees, according to Statcast, and he’s standing 1.6 inches closer to the mound and 1.2 inches more off the plate.
But none of that was done consciously.
“I haven’t intentionally stood anywhere different,” he said. “Maybe naturally I’ve done that without even noticing.”
He has, though, worked to get his contact point more out front and get more balls in the air. And that’s reflected in the homers and in the fact that he’s putting 20% of the balls he puts in play in the air to the pull side.
All four of his homers have come off breaking balls (sliders or curves).
“I was hitting a lot of ground balls,” he said. “I was making contact and getting out a lot, just hitting it on the ground. Some of it was timing and there might’ve been some stuff in my swing, trying not to be so steep at the ball.”
Around the horn
Right-handed starter Sawyer Gipson-Long (elbow surgery and hip repair) was scheduled to make his second rehab start on Tuesday, this one at High-A West Michigan.
Red Sox at Tigers
First pitch: 6:40 p.m. Wednesday
TV/Radio: FanDuel Sports/97.1
SCOUTING REPORT
RHP Hunter Dobbins (2-1, 2.78), Red Sox: This will be the fifth start for the 25-year-old Texas Tech product after debuting April 6 as the 27th man in a doubleheader. He blanked the Royals over six innings in Kansas City last time out. He gets a lot of chase (35%) with an array of secondary pitches (slider, curve and splitter to lefties, sweeper to righties), all off a 95-mph four-seamer.
LHP Tarik Skubal (4-2, 2.08), Tigers: The reigning American League Cy Young winner is on one. Over his last six starts he posted 50 strikeouts and one walk with a 0.97 ERA. He’s coming off a 12-strikeout performance against Texas, setting a club record with 32 swings and misses. In his last 20 starts at Comerica Park, he is 13-1 with a 1.56 ERA, 150 strikeouts and 24 walks.
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