Zach McKinstry's impending return is guaranteed to cut this Tigers player's time short

Zach McKinstry wasn't hitting particularly well before he went onto the IL — officially with hip and abdominal inflammation, but really with a myriad of issues — but the Tigers are still feeling his absence.

He was the second outfield option consigned to the IL in the span of a week, after Parker Meadows suffered a broken arm from his collision with Riley Greene. McKinstry's defensive versatility was always going to be hard to replace, and eventually proved impossible when infielder Jace Jung was called up when Javy Báez went down with a broken ankle. McKinstry and Meadows are still two of just three Tigers with a positive OAA.

On Thursday, the Tigers sent McKinstry on a rehab assignment to Single-A Lakeland. He went 0-for-3 with a strikeout but appeared to be moving around well.

Of course, he's still a little ways away from his last stop at Triple-A, but when he is ready to return, the Tigers are going to have to trim.

Hao-Yu Lee was called up in McKinstry's absence, but it shouldn't be Lee getting the push. It should be/almost certainly will be Jung.

Jace Jung needs to justify his presence on Tigers' roster as Zach McKinstry gets closer to return

Jung was called up on Wednesday and was in the starting lineup as Detroit's DH, but he got all of two plate appearances before being switched out with Jahmai Jones. He picked up a walk, which later scored a run, and struck out.

There's still a little time for Jung to prove that it should be Lee going back to Toledo first — if AJ Hinch even trusts him enough to give him more than the occasional pinch-hit at-bat or late-inning defensive swap. But Jung has long been one of the Tigers' more disappointing top prospects, and Lee has started heating up a bit. He hit his first major league home run against the Reds and a double against the Braves with limited opportunities.

When Báez makes his way back, they'll both inevitably end up back in Triple-A; this is just a matter of who can outlast the other given Báez's still-nebulous timeline. Jung's sample size is just about as small as it can be right now, but if he doesn't do something to prove that he can be more than a Quad-A stopgap — hitting his first major league homer would be a start — he's not going to last.

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