The Detroit Tigers are in the hunt for the final wild card spot in the American League despite trading two All-Star starters at this year’s trade deadline. Part of the reason why is because their offense is starting to wake up.
Unfortunately, the Tigers lost one of their best pieces to the 10-day injured list on Wednesday when the club placed three-time All-Star Riley Greene on the IL due to a right hamstring strain.
MORE: Tigers announce Riley Greene update after concerning exit in Guardians game
Manager A.J. Hinch does believe it will not be a lengthy stint, but given how important every game is right now for Detroit it is still a significant loss in the short term. Across 117 games this year, the 25-year-old posted a .273 batting average, .366 on-base percentage, .816 OPS, 16 home runs and 54 RBIs.
With the Tigers’ outfield depth already a bit depleted before Greene went down, given Kerry Carpenter is also on the injured list, Detroit unfortunately lost another piece before Thursday’s game against the Cleveland Guardians.
“The Tigers today placed OF James Outman on the 7-day concussion injured list and recalled OF Trei Cruz from Triple-A Toledo,” the team announced.
Outman suffered the concussion during Wednesday’s matchup with Cleveland after being struck on the chin by a fastball.
While Outman has not been particularly productive at the plate with Detroit, he provides elite defense, and with the depth this thin, losing him creates real problems.
The Tigers slotted Javier Baez in left field for Thursday’s game against the Guardians as they continue to see their outfield plans disrupted at the worst possible time in the season.
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