4 tough decisions Tigers would be forced to make if not for crazy amount of injuries

As the 2026 season progresses, the Detroit Tigers are sliding further away from first place in the AL Central and closer to the division's cellar. Injuries have played a major role in the team's fortunes both in terms of the quality of players they've been without and the quantity of maladies they have suffered.

Injuries are the only thing that has gone wrong, though. Several key pieces Detroit was counting on have drastically underperformed. Typically, once things reach a head, a club might take drastic action. In the Tigers' case, the sheer number of absences has handcuffed the team's ability to truly handle the greatest offenders.

Hopefully, the unit will return to full strength, or near full strength, soon, and when that happens, we might find the Tigers making some tough decisions on four of these key players.

The Tigers' starting rotation getting healthy should lead to a Jack Flaherty DFA

Jack Flaherty's second stint in Detroit has been nothing like his first. The Tigers brought him back, believing he could be a front-end starter in support of Tarik Skubal. That didn't happen in 2025, but at least there were some positive signs, such as a 3.69 xFIP.

There has been nothing redeeming about the 30-year-old's 2026 campaign. Through 10 starts, he's only managed 43 and 2/3 innings while posting a career-worst 5.98 BB/9. Command has been a major issue for the right-hander, and earlier this month he sounded off on how frustrating it has been.

"It’s frustrating. It pisses you off. I’m losing sleep over it every single day trying to figure out what goes on in that little bit right there," Flaherty said after his dreadful May 1 performance against the Texas Rangers.

Casey Mize just came back, but Ty Madden going down, plus Justin Verlander and Tarik Skubal are still working their way back, means the Tigers can't just cut bait with Flaherty. But if they can ever get to full strength, or close to it, he could be gone.

Spencer Torkelson's dramatic regression should have the Tigers sending him down

After the best season of his career in 2025, Spencer Torkelson entered this year needing to break his concerning pattern of immediately falling off after showing positive signs. Unfortunately, he's been unable to do so, and with a .193/.307/.379 line and a career-worst 33.3% strikeout rate through 49 games, he may have even reached a new low.

Normally, the Tigers have a lot of infield depth and movable parts, but with Javier Baez and Gleyber Torres on the IL, the concern is up the middle. The good news is that top prospect Max Anderson is back in action at Toledo, and he could soon become an option to help the situation.

Detroit needs someone to emerge who can handle third base so that Colt Keith can shift across the diamond to first. Keith's power outage has been concerning, but if that returns, he's done a good job making contact this year and could be a positive. That would then allow the Tigers to take a page out of the Minnesota Twins' book and demote Torkelson as the Twins did with Royce Lewis.

The Tigers would probably cut ties with Drew Anderson, but can't

The raw numbers on Drew Anderson don't look too bad. He got off to a horrid start, which makes his current 3.98 ERA look like gold. However, the bulk of that good performance came on the back of his first start of the season, when he allowed no earned runs over 4 2/3 innings. Don't expect that luck as a starter to continue.

The bulk of the season has seen Anderson working out of the bullpen, and as a reliever, he has a 4.67 ERA despite being used almost exclusively in low-leverage situations. Given the injuries to Detroit's starting staff, they'll need to lean on him in the rotation a while longer. Since the bulk of his season has been subpar, it's hard to imagine him finding sustained success there. Once the cavalry comes off the IL, expect him to get the boot.

Tyler Holton would be sent down if the Tigers had another option

Once again, the Tigers' bullpen has been a soft spot that has cost the team. Tyler Holton is one of a couple of relievers who have regressed this season. The southpaw had been a versatile innings-eater out of the pen in previous years, but this year, he's struggled to consistently get outs.

With a 4.70 ERA over 23 innings, Holton has contributed to more than his fair share of blown leads, and his performance has deteriorated the more critical the situation has been. Unfortunately, there aren't many other alternatives for Detroit to turn to, so he'll be here for the foreseeable future, even if sending him down to Toledo to figure things out makes the most sense.

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