Tigers surprisingly activate Gleyber Torres vs Cubs and option feel-good story

The Tigers kicked off their crucial 16-game stretch between the All-Star break and the Aug. 3 trade deadline on a nice note, with a win over the Angels. Although fans would've preferred a sweep, of course, it still gave Detroit some much-needed momentum going into their three-game series against the best of the five teams they're scheduled to face during this stretch: the Cubs.

Chicago also came out of the break well, with a series win over the Twins. They're 56-43 (.566), second place in the NL Central behind the Brewers and firmly in a Wild Card spot. The upcoming Royals, Orioles, and Athletics are all sub-.500 teams.

Luckily, the Tigers activated a reinforcement ahead of their opener at Wrigley. Gleyber Torres will reunite with the team that signed him after a little over a month-long stint on the IL with an oblique strain — his second absence of the year with the same injury.

To make room on the 40-man roster, the Tigers optioned Eduardo Valencia back to Triple-A. It's not exactly an unexpected move, given that Dillon Dingler never had to go onto the IL after his injury scare, but it's a sad "goodbye for now" for a player who provided one of the Tigers' best feel-good moments of the year.

Tigers reactivate Gleyber Torres after oblique injury, option Eduardo Valencia

Torres' arrival is surprising given how short his rehab assignment was. After such a prolonged absence and what seemed like multiple setbacks, fans might've assumed that the Tigers would put him through his paces a little more in the minors. However, he ended up playing in just three games — one with the FCL Tigers, two in Single-A Lakeland — before coming off the IL. Maybe all the Tigers felt they needed to see was his three-run bomb on Saturday to decide that he was ready.

He's been firmly supplanted as the Tigers' go-to leadoff hitter by Kevin McGonigle, but he'll hit second for Detroit tonight against the Cubs.

Valencia hit .556 with a 1.822 OPS in his first nine at-bats with the Tigers, but went hitless in his last three. He hit two homers and collected three RBI, and he'll always have the fact that his first major league at-bat ended in a home run, but it makes sense that it wasn't enough to keep him with a veteran coming off the IL.

Still, it was a great first impression, and Tigers fans are rooting to see more of Valencia in Detroit in the future.

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