Casey Mize placed on IL after injury vs. Angels (updated)

Updated: AJ Hinch confirmed Casey Mize would go onto the IL with a hamstring strain, and Keider Montero is expected to be called up in his stead.

Casey Mize really needed to have a good day when he took the mound on Sunday for the Tigers. His last start against the Phillies on June 24 was a weird one; he pitched 4 1/3 innings and put up a career-high 10 strikeouts, while also giving up nine hits and four runs (three earned) in a game the Tigers would eventually go on to lose to become the first Tiger ever to strike out 10 or more batters while also giving up nine or more hits.

His Sunday start was looking like a good one. He got through five innings and only allowed five runners on base (three hits and two walks), while Detroit's hitters put up seven runs of support. In the bottom of the sixth, which was likely to be his last inning of the evening, he got Jo Adell to pop out before leaning down to grab the back of his leg in obvious discomfort.

A.J. Hinch came out to the mound accompanied by a trainer, and after some discussion, Hinch took the ball from Mize, who was accompanied back to the dugout.

After the game, which the Tigers almost blew thanks to another bad appearance from Shelby Miller, Hinch was asked about Mize's exit and said, "We'll have to see. We'll get him tested and see how it is when the adrenaline wears off," which isn't exactly comforting.

Casey Mize exited his start against the Angels with an apparent leg cramp on Sunday (updated)

Mize also seemed to be in good spirits after the game, but confirmed that he would need to see how things panned out and do some testing ahead of his next start. If he does have to go on the IL, it'll be bad news for the Tigers, who were missing him throughout 2023 as he recovered from Tommy John surgery. He's also trying to incentivize the Tigers to use their club option to pay him $3.1 million next season instead of going back to arbitration, and another IL stint certainly wouldn't help.

The Tigers' rotation has mostly gotten away from the pitching injuries that seemed to be viral at the beginning of the season. Apart from brief troubles for Jack Flaherty and Kenta Maeda, they've been able to stay healthy and able to make scheduled starts. If Mize were to go down, it's likely Detroit would call up rain delay 27th man Matt Manning, but with Manning's recent struggles down in Triple-A, that would be far from ideal for everyone.