Tigers fans breathe a sigh of relief as Casey Mize return confirmed, relievers make progress

The Tigers' IL is one of the longest in baseball right now, and the Tigers are playing like it. Not only are they missing key pieces from all over the roster, the rest are underperforming to a degree that suggests all of the absences have taken their toll on the remaining players.

The only silver lining has been that whenever someone has gone onto the IL, someone else usually makes a significant step to return. The latest Tigers injury update gave fans good news on Casey Mize, Troy Melton, and Javy Báez.

And the most reassuring tidbit of all was that Mize wasn't expected to need a rehab assignment, given that he's been feeling good enough to keep throwing throughout his stint. He's eligible to come off the IL on Friday.

The Tigers are putting Brenan Hanifee on the mound as an opener tonight against the Blue Jays, with Ty Madden getting a bulk appearance behind him, but they've been TBD on Saturday's starter. Ahead of their opener against Toronto, Cody Stavenhagen of The Athletic reported that Mize will be reactivated and be back on the mound on Saturday. Connor Seabold has also been reactivated, with Ricky Vanasco shuttling back to Triple-A.

Casey Mize set to return to Tigers on Saturday; Connor Seabold reactivated ahead of Blue Jays opener

Players only needing the minimum IL stint before returning is almost unheard of these days, but the Tigers needed it desperately. Mize left his April 28 start against the Braves after just 2 1/3 innings after feeling some groin discomfort, and he officially went onto the IL the next day with an adductor strain.

Before going down, he had a 2.90 ERA and was just starting to make a strong case to receive a respectable contract as he gets closer to free agency this upcoming offseason. If we don't count Verlander, losing Mize was the first major blow to the Tigers' rotation.

Of course, everything else has since fallen apart without him, but hopefully getting him back signals the beginning of a slow wave of returns. Melton is in a rehab assignment and Will Vest is set to join one of the Tigers' affiliates — presumably Triple-A — tonight.

This at least restores a little order to combat the abominable chaos of the Tigers' pitching staff as of late. Detroit still has issues — will the offense actually be able to score some runs for Mize? — but this is the best news we've gotten in weeks.

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