Detroit Tigers: It's time to worry about Beau Brieske in the long term

Detroit Tigers need to be cautious with Beau Brieske.

The Detroit Tigers made a roster move on Tuesday, sending Beau Brieske to the 60-Day Injured List (IL) with an ulnar nerve entrapment requiring some extra time to rest and rehab. The team brought in reliever Seth Elledge in a corresponding move and optioned him to Triple-A.

The Detroit Tigers moving Brieske to the 60-Day IL is a problem and is certainly a reason to worry and be concerned. After bursting onto the scene in 2022 and really establishing himself, things took a turn for the worse, and his season ended early.

In 2022, the issue was bicep tendinitis and discomfort with his bicep and then forearm tightness. The two injuries plagued his season and his attempts to return to the mound, leading to the 2022 campaign being cut short.

He finished 2022 with 15 starts, accumulating 81.2 innings pitched for the Tigers where he managed a 4.19 ERA and a 1.20 WHIP. He walked 25 and punched out 54 opposing hitters along the way and was excelling at pitching to weak contact and stringing together impressive outings.

After he got shut down for the year, there was hope he would return in 2023 and be able to get back on track. He proved to be valuable at a time when the Tigers starting rotation had diminished to almost nothing.

Brieske started his return-to-throw and ramped things back up, looking to return to 100%. He battled some arm discomfort all spring long and had an injury history littered with his arm issues as he tried to prepare for the 2023 season.

The most recent was upper arm discomfort before the team announced his ulnar nerve entrapment. It's a problematic situation because of the track he is following. I'm not a medical doctor or arm injury expert, but the way things are trending seems like he is heading toward a significant elbow or shoulder injury.

The tendinitis issues and consistent discomfort causing trouble for his throwing has to be worrisome. It's not to say that he will have to undergo Tommy John or have a major shoulder injury tomorrow but the track is concerning as he tries to get back on the mound.

The Tigers have him on the 60-day IL, giving him time to rest and try and rehab to get back to 100%. But it seems like he is heading down a rough road that could lead to further injuries. It's worrisome when the Tigers were hoping he could be an impactful arm for the team at some point.