Flurry of Tigers roster moves mostly brings bad news with injuries

The Tigers were on a roll coming out of the All-Star break, bringing their good vibes from taking a series from the Dodgers into the beginning of this final stretch of the regular season as they visited the Blue Jays at the Rogers Centre. They took Game 1, despite the hint of a bullpen blowup in the late innings, and nabbed Game 2 thanks to a grand slam from Jake Rogers.

Reese Olson was the starter on the mound in the second contest, looking to extend a nice stretch over his last seven starts. He pitched two clean innings, giving up just one hit and two walks, but was conspicuously replaced in the third by Alex Faedo with what was revealed to be shoulder soreness after the game.

It immediately set off an alarm for a Tigers rotation that's already without Casey Mize and will almost surely be losing Jack Flaherty at the deadline, but it could've just been precautionary, right?

Nope. The next day, the Tigers officially moved Olson to the 15-day IL with a shoulder strain. That wasn't all, though — they made a host of moves that also included placing Kerry Carpenter on the 60-day IL.

Tigers roster moves include an IL stint for Reese Olson, 60-day IL for Kerry Carpenter

Easton Lucas, a waiver claim from the Athletics back in May, will make his Tigers debut in Olson's absence. Lucas is a reliever and has never started a game in his short major league career, even on a bullpen day, but he's probably just a reinforcement for a 'pen that will have to put Beau Brieske or Alex Faedo up for short starts while they wait on Mize. Lucas has had a bit of a rough go of things in Triple-A since the Tigers picked him up but has gotten better in July, sporting a 1.35 ERA over 6 2/3 innings.

Ryan Vilade has cemented his Quadruple-A status throughout this season and was sent down again, replaced by Bligh Madris, who earned his Tigers debut earlier this season and stayed for a grand total of one game, during which time he got four at-bats and failed to get on base while striking out twice. Carpenter, whose progress from lumbar spine inflammation has been a roller coaster since he went down in late May, was officially moved to the 60-day IL to make room of the 40-man for Madris.

The Tigers are still feeling the good vibes despite losing Game 3 of their series against the Jays. However, Olson's absence is troubling, and it'll mean stretching Detroit's improving but still shaky bullpen out even more. Let's just hope that these bats stand firm.