Even a Javy Baez injury setback is testing Tigers fans' patience greatly

The Tigers' IL has held firm somewhere around 15 players over the past month. Detroit's terrible luck has been uncanny; almost every time a player comes off, another goes on. We saw it just this past weekend, when Troy Melton was reinstated but Brant Hurter was sidelined with lumbar spine inflammation.

The pitching staff has been harder hit than the offense, but the offense is arguably where the Tigers need the most help. They've failed to score five or more runs in all but three of their games this month.

They're most notably missing Gleyber Torres, Javy Báez, and Kerry Carpenter. Báez has been out the longest; he went onto the 10-day IL on April 29 — the same day as Casey Mize — with an ankle sprain after an ugly slide into first base.

He's seemed to progress somewhat well, but whatever strides he might've taken appear to have been for nothing. On Tuesday, Jason Beck of MLB.com reported that Báez will see a specialist about his ankle, which according to AJ Hinch "has not progressed as hoped."

Javy Báez set to see a specialist for ankle injury as Tigers await his return

You know it's bad when Tigers fans are missing Javy Báez who, once upon a time, were begging to see kicked off the roster, no matter the cost.

Highlights of the Tigers' offensive additions in the wake of multiple injuries have been Wenceel Pérez, Jace Jung, Gage Workman, and Zack Short. Jung is no longer on the 26-man roster, and the other three arguably no longer deserve to be on the roster. Calls for Detroit to call up top prospects like Max Anderson have fallen on deaf ears.

There's no promise that Báez's return would actually help anything, but we don't call him El Mago for nothing. Between the swings at sliders two feet off the plate, there are times when he does the most miraculous thing possible. None of the replacements have done anything of the kind.

At least Báez is a known quantity, a veteran with a real resumé. You can't say the same about Pérez or Jung or Workman or Short.

Ultimately, whatever specialist Báez sees will say what Tigers fans already feel coming: a return is probably further away than anyone thought, and we shouldn't get our hopes up.

Such is life for Tigers fans these days. What else should we have expected?

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