Tigers Injury Updates: Jack Flaherty, Sawyer Gipson-Long, Jace Jung

The Tigers really, really need Jack Flaherty to stay healthy if they have any hope of trading him for a worthwhile return at the deadline. He's been dealing with back issues since early June, when he was taken out of a start against the Rangers after expressing clear discomfort between innings. He's managed to avoid an IL stint since then, but the problem hasn't totally gone away.

He missed a scheduled start against the Nationals but returned against the Astros on June 15, then was bumped back a day to face the Angels instead of the Phillies (though the Angels did end up getting five runs off of him in one of his worse starts of the season), and has yet to pitch in July.

He's also been receiving back injections intermittently since the back tightness originally popped up, and it's undoubtedly kept the Tigers on the edge of their seats as to exactly how valuable he'll turn out to be at the deadline. However, some good news for the front office: he threw a bullpen and is still expected to make his start in the Tigers' last game against the Guardians on Thursday.

The Tigers can only hope he continues performing at a high level for the two or three starts he'll manage to get in before the deadline. If he's still experiencing issues after he leaves Detroit, then, well, it won't be Detroit's problem anymore.

Tigers injury updates: Jack Flaherty on track to start on Thursday, Sawyer Gipson-Long receives another surgery, Jace Jung back in Triple-A

A Tiger who definitely hasn't been able to avoid catastrophe quite like Flaherty is Sawyer Gipson-Long, who was expected to be a big part of the bullpen this season but started the season on the IL with a groin strain instead. A week after being sent to High-A and making just one rehab start, the Tigers announced he'd need Tommy John surgery, which would keep him out for the rest of the year. Now, he's adding another procedure to the list: a hip labral repair, which he successfully underwent in Detroit.

Well, at least it was already clear Tommy John would keep him from making a major league appearance this season...? This many major setbacks is pretty awful, but it might be better that they're stacking on top of each other now instead of one coming after the other. The Tigers noted that he's still rehabbing his elbow, so hopefully they'll be able to fold in the rehab for his hip and mitigate the amount of time he has to spend recovering.

Some better news for Jace Jung down in Triple-A: he's back in the Mud Hens' lineup after missing about three weeks with a sore wrist and completing a rehab assignment in Single-A. He's been hitless in his two games since returning, but has also scored three runs on three walks. With the way some injuries across the league have been panning out, it's just good that he wasn't out for even longer.