Tigers demote top prospect after one day on MLB roster for Sawyer Gipson-Long

The Tigers were pretty clear about their intentions for their September call-ups — Justyn-Henry Malloy, Chase Lee, and Sawyer Gipson-Long — before they made the initial roster moves to recall just Malloy and Lee. Gipson-Long was already set as Detroit's probable starter for their Tuesday evening game against the Mets, but they would delay the actual roster move and buy themselves some time to figure out who would be going down in order to accommodate him.

Fans definitely didn't expect it to be Lee, but we were warned! The Tigers demoted him back to Triple-A on Tuesday ahead of Gipson-Long's start. He spent all of a single day on the roster, didn't pitch, and then was sent down. Why? Who even knows anymore?

Although the Tigers' frequent and oftentimes confusing roster moves to keep their bullpen carousel turning have been productive for the team — the bullpen had an MLB second-best 2.98 ERA in August — it hasn't made them any less strange.

Why didn't the Tigers just call up Gipson-Long instead of Lee in the first place if they weren't absolutely sure they'd use him on Monday?

Tigers demote Chase Lee after one day (and without playing him) to promote Sawyer Gipson-Long for Tuesday start vs. Mets

Lee was really the only option to be sent down. Drew Sommers pitched like he wanted to go back to the minors on Monday — one inning, three earned runs — but the Tigers have precious few lefty relievers and Tyler Holton is also becoming less dependable. Two other lefties, Bailey Horn and Brant Hurter, aren't eligible to come back for a few days still. Will Vest, Kyle Finnegan, and Troy Melton are locks, Brenan Hanifee has been performing well since he was recalled, Rafael Montero is slowly improving, and the Tigers seem unwilling to give up on Tommy Kahnle.

Having Lee in the bullpen for a single day gave Hinch a wider variety of options for Monday's opener of one of the more challenging series left of the Tigers' schedule, but now they won't be able to call Lee back up until he spends another minimum 15 days in Triple-A. It was also his fifth time being optioned, which means that if the Tigers replace him again, they'll have to put him through waivers.

We're no closer to understanding what the Tigers are doing here and why, but at this rate it wouldn't be surprising if they send Gipson-Long back down after his Tuesday start, regardless of how well he does. At least he will have been in the majors for a clear reason, unlike whatever it was the Tigers were doing with Lee.