Tigers Injury Updates: Reese Olson timeline, Wenceel Pérez rehab, players sick
Something's going around the Tigers' clubhouse (or the water at the doomed Oakland Coliseum has been poisoned by Athletics' ownership), and it's hitting the team at the worst possible time. Dillon Dingler was scratched from Tuesday's lineup against the Rockies, which was followed by reports that Dingler, as well as multiple other players, were not at their best after their six-game road trip to San Diego and Oakland.
Chris McCosky reported an exact number — a staggering 14 players have been affected by whatever bug has come to wreck havoc. Spencer Torkelson was named as one of those 14, but he went forward as part of Tuesday's lineup, which was an emphatic Tigers win over the Rockies.
This series against the Rockies is pivotal. Colorado is the Tigers' easiest opponent over the next two weeks. After Colorado, the Tigers will see the Orioles, Royals, and Orioles again, marking a tough stretch for Detroit as they chase a Wild Card spot, so this is quite literally the most inopportune time for half of the roster to fall ill.
Hopefully, this is just a bug that will pass easily, and the Tigers will be in better shape when they see the Orioles.
Tigers Injury Updates: Reese Olson and Wenceel Perez on the mend
In some better news, Reese Olson has completed two rehab starts in Triple-A and will return to Detroit for a meeting with AJ Hinch to assess whether or not he'll need another start in Toledo. Olson has been on the IL since July 21 with a shoulder strain, and his two rehab outings went well but they were both short. He pitched two innings in his first and three in his second, only allowing two hits and two walks while striking out six batters across both.
The Tigers' bullpen has done miraculously well since both Olson and Casey Mize hit the IL — and Mize had a respectable first outing after coming back in early September — but adding one more starter will surely help preserve relievers' arms through the rest of the season and potentially the postseason.
Wenceel Pérez is also still in Triple-A rehabbing, having just seemed to get back into the groove with a homer on Tuesday after going hitless through his first six games. The Tigers have no reason to call up Pérez again, as Justyn-Henry Malloy seems to have just started to settle in back in the majors after he was promoted again the fill one of the expanded roster spots.
However, if whatever's going around the team ends up looking serious, Pérez could be the easy choice to bring back up.