Detroit, MI

Detroit Tigers scratch Kerry Carpenter with hamstring tightness: ‘Just being cautious’

Published

6 months ago

June 4, 2025

Detroit Tigers scratch Kerry Carpenter with hamstring tightness: ‘Just being cautious’

CHICAGO — The Detroit Tigers scratched outfielder Kerry Carpenter from the starting lineup Wednesday, June 4, against the Chicago White Sox at Rate Field, in which he was supposed to play right field and bat fifth.

Carpenter suffered right hamstring tightness.

“He’s been dealing with this for a couple of days, navigating through the typical wear and tear of the season,” manager A.J. Hinch said, adding Carpenter remains available as a pinch-hitter. “We’re just being cautious.”

Wenceel Pérez replaced Carpenter in Wednesday’s lineup.

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Is Carpenter undergoing any tests?

“No, no, no,” Hinch said before Wednesday’s game. “He’s going to pinch-hit in the seventh inning.”

Carpenter — who launched three home runs Monday, June 2, against the White Sox — is hitting .273 with 13 home runs, seven walks and 44 strikeouts across 57 games in 2025, making 39 starts in the outfield and 11 starts at designated hitter.

He hasn’t played in the outfield since Saturday, May 31, against the Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium — his last of eight games in a row in the outfield.

“That’s why I’ve DH’d him a couple of days in a row,” Hinch said. “I sat him on Sunday. I pulled him early last night. I was going to put him in the outfield, but an after meeting with him today, I decided to scratch him.”

Carpenter has a history with injuries and has never stayed healthy for a full season.

The 27-year-old landed on the injured list in each of his first three MLB seasons (2022-24): left lumbar spine strain in September 2022, right shoulder sprain in April 2023 and lumbar spine stress fracture in May 2024.

He also suffered a left hamstring strain in spring training in February 2024, a left hamstring injury in Game 4 of the ALDS in October 2024 and right hamstring soreness in April 2025. None of those issues required a stint on the injured list.

The Tigers have a roster logjam on the right side of the infield, which often pushes Carpenter to the outfield. If Colt Keith is the designated hitter, Gleyber Torres is at second base, and Spencer Torkelson is at first, where does Carpenter fit?

Carpenter should be the Tigers’ everyday designated hitter — both to protect his health and hide his below-average defense — but there isn’t a spot for him at designated hitter without benching Keith, Torres or Torkelson.

That’s putting his health at risk.

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Casey Mize: ‘I feel good’

Right-hander Casey Mize is set to start Thursday, June 5, in the finale of the four-game series against the White Sox. It will be his third start since returning from a left hamstring strain, which sent him to the injured list for the minimum 15 days.

His four-seam fastball averaged about 95 mph in his first seven starts, all before the injury. Since returning, his fastball averaged 93.2 mph in his eighth start and 93.7 mph in his ninth start.

There’s no reason to be worried.

“I feel good,” Mize said. “I’m super routine-oriented. I’m diving back into what I was doing before, the normal five- or six-day routine. Body feels good. I’m ready to go.”

The velocity on his splitter has stayed the same, hovering around 88 mph.

Mize has a 2.82 ERA in nine starts.

Dylan Smith optioned to Triple-A Toledo

The Tigers optioned right-handed reliever Dylan Smith to Triple-A Toledo, opening the door for right-hander Sawyer Gipson-Long to return from the 60-day injured list to start Wednesday against the White Sox.

Called up from Toledo on Friday, May 30, Smith made his MLB debut Monday and pitched in back-to-back games. The 25-year-old allowed two runs on four hits and two walks in three innings, without a strikeout.

“He wasn’t very happy with how he threw his secondary pitches,” Hinch said. “He’s got some work to do to complete his full arsenal and continue this upward trend of pounding the strike zone with some pretty good stuff.”

The Tigers also recalled righty reliever Jason Foley — who underwent season-ending right shoulder surgery — from Triple-A Toledo and placed him on the 60-day injured list, creating room for Gipson-Long’s return to the 40-man roster.

Foley will receive MLB service time while rehabbing.

Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him @EvanPetzold.

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Detroit, MI

What are Detroit Lions’ NFL playoffs odds? Latest playoff picture

Published

11 hours ago

December 14, 2025

Press Room

What are Detroit Lions’ NFL playoffs odds? Latest playoff picture

The Detroit Lions needed some help from an AFC rival to improve their playoff odds before their Week 15 matchup, but they didn’t get the outcome they desired.

The Lions (8-5, 3rd in NFC North) are facing off against the NFC’s top-seeded Los Angeles Rams (10-3, 1st in NFC West) on Sunday, Dec. 14, at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California. As the NFC’s No. 8 seed, the Lions entered the day with a 54% chance to make the playoffs per NFL Next Gen Stats, but those odds fell with the result in Chicago.

With the No. 7-seeded Chicago Bears hosting the 3-10 Cleveland Browns, Lions fans were hoping for a Browns upset to drop the Bears to 9-5 and allow the Lions to move into a playoff position with a win, since a 9-5 Lions team would own a tiebreaker over Chicago (thanks to their Week 2 victory). However, the Bears took care of business on a frigid day at Soldier Field, beating the Browns, 31-3, to improve to 10-4.

With the Bears beating the Browns, the Lions playoff odds have now lowered to 52% ahead of their game against the Rams (4:25 p.m., Fox). Here’s a look at what the rest of the NFC playoff picture looks like, including how a Lions win can help improve their position.

Lions playoff scenarios

Here’s the latest info on how the Lions can make it into the NFL playoffs, how they could miss out and what their playoff odds are.

What are Lions’ odds to make NFL playoffs?

According to NFL Next Gen Stats, the Lions have a 52% chance of making the playoffs. If they beat the Rams, they will have a 73% chance to make the postseason, but those odds drop to 40% with a loss.

NFC playoff standings

Only the top seven teams make the playoffs in each conference. Here are the NFC standings entering the Lions Week 15 game against the Rams, with playoff odds from NFL Next Gen Stats:

Rams: 10-3, 97%
Packers: 9-3-1, 92%
Eagles: 9-5, 95%
Panthers: 7-6, 47%
Seahawks: 10-3, 97%
Bears, 10-4, 68%
49ers: 9-4, 93%
*Lions: 8-5, 52%
*Buccaneers: 7-7, 54%
*Cowboys: 6-6-1, 8%

*Currently out of the playoffs

How Lions can make NFL playoffs

The Lions still control their own playoff destiny despite currently being out of the playoff picture as the No. 8 seed. However, if the Lions lose any of their four remaining regular-season games, they will need additional outcomes to break their way in order to make it to the postseason.

If the Lions go 4-0 in their remaining regular-season games and finish 12-5, they will make the playoffs no matter the outcome of any other game (and have an outside shot of grabbing the No. 1 seed in the NFC).
If the Lions go 3-1 in their final four games and finish 11-6, they will still make the playoffs if the Bears go 1-2 in their final three games and one of those two losses is to Detroit. An 11-6 Lions team could also theoretically overtake the San Francisco 49ers for a wild-card spot, but that would require the 49ers to lose three of their last four games.
If the Lions go 2-2 in their final four games and finish 10-7, they will have a very difficult time of making the playoffs, especially if one of those losses is to Chicago. In that scenario, either the Rams or 49ers would need to lose all four of their remaining regular-season games for the Lions to make the playoffs.
If the Lions go 1-3 in their final four games and finish 9-8, they will have virtually no shot at making the playoffs unless that one win is against the Bears – and Detroit’s playoff odds would still be minute even with a win in Chicago.
The Lions will be eliminated from playoff contention if they go 0-4 in their final four games and finish 8-9 on the season.

Lions schedule: Next game, final stretch

Week 16, Sunday, Dec. 21: vs. Pittsburgh Steelers, 4:25 p.m., CBS.
Week 17, Thursday, Dec. 25: at Minnesota Vikings, 4:30 p.m., Netflix.
Week 18, Saturday/Sunday, Jan. 3-4: at Chicago Bears, TBD.

Bears schedule: Next game, final stretch

Week 16, Saturday, Dec. 20: vs Green Bay Packers, 8:20 p.m. ET, Fox.
Week 17, Sunday, Dec. 28: at San Francisco 49ers, 8:20 p.m. ET, NBC.
Week 18, Saturday/Sunday, Jan. 3-4: vs Detroit Lions, TBD.

When do NFL playoffs start?

The wild-card round is Jan. 10-12.

NFL playoffs schedule

Wild-card round: Jan. 10-12.
Divisional round: Jan. 17-18.
Conference championships: Jan. 25.
Super Bowl 60: Feb. 8.

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You can reach Christian at cromo@freepress.com.

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Detroit, MI

EPA wrongly found Detroit area safe for smog, judge rules in split decision

Published

23 hours ago

December 14, 2025

Press Room

EPA wrongly found Detroit area safe for smog, judge rules in split decision

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency was wrong to determine Michigan met federal health and environmental standards for ozone pollution or smog in the Detroit area in 2023, a federal appeals court judge has ruled.

U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Helene White on Dec. 5 issued a split decision in a case about how environmental regulators measured Detroit air quality in 2022, when wildfire smoke drifted over Detroit and affected the air quality monitor readings for a few days in June.

Michigan considered those days “exceptional events” because of the wildfire smoke and didn’t include the high ozone pollution readings in its calculation to the EPA.

With those days tossed, the state was able to argue in 2023 that Michigan met federal air quality standards for ground-level ozone pollution. The seven-county Metro Detroit region had previously been out of compliance with the ozone standards.

The Sierra Club sued, arguing the wildfire smoke did not meaningfully change ozone readings and that the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy failed to analyze how local pollution sources contributed to the ozone levels on those days. The environmental advocacy group also challenged the EPA’s finding that the region met federal standards for ozone pollution.

White determined the exceptional events designation was appropriate, siding against the Sierra Club in deciding the EPA and EGLE correctly analyzed the smoke’s impact on ozone readings in June 2022.

She sided against EPA in deciding the EPA was wrong to put Michigan back into attainment for ground-level ozone without Michigan adopting control measures that would cut volatile organic compounds, which contribute to ozone pollution.

EPA determined the Detroit area was out of attainment for ground-level ozone on April 13, 2022. Michigan regulators did not impose control technologies for ozone-causing pollutants by the deadline in early 2023. Instead, they asked EPA to redesignate the area as in attainment with the air quality rules.

Michigan was obligated to implement control technologies even though it had submitted a redesignation request, White said in her order. Control technologies include efforts to reduce volatile organic compounds from being released from manufacturing plants and industrial sources, according to EPA documents.

Sierra Club member and Detroit environmental justice activist Dolores Leonard cheered the outcome of the case.

“Without this victory, EPA’s decisions would have let Michigan avoid the rules needed to reduce pollution and keep the air we breathe safe,” Leonard said. “At a time when asthma rates are rising in Detroit, especially in Black communities, that’s unacceptable. With the backing of this federal court decision, our community will continue to push the state of Michigan to take much-needed action to relieve ozone pollution in this area.”

The Clean Air Act requires those pollution control measures to be implemented even after the EPA puts an area back into attainment to ensure the air quality remains healthy, said Nick Leonard, executive director of Great Lakes Environmental Law Center, which argued the Sierra Club’s case.

White’s order means the EGLE will have to reapply for the attainment of the ozone standard, Leonard said.

“At the very least, I would say they have to correct the legal deficiency, which was that they didn’t enact the pollution control rules that are typically required for areas that are in non-attainment for this long,” he said.

The EPA is reviewing the decision, its press office said. The office did not respond to a question about whether it would ask Michigan to adopt volatile organic compound control measures as a result of White’s decision.

The EGLE also is reviewing the ruling, spokesman Dale George said.

“While EGLE was not a party to the case and is not able to speak in detail about the legal outcome, we were encouraged that the court supported the use of exceptional events demonstrations and acknowledged the sound science behind EGLE’s determination that the Detroit area met the health-based ozone standard,” George said.

Leonard said he was disappointed but not surprised that White ruled against the Sierra Club’s arguments that EGLE and the EPA did not correctly account for wildfire smoke’s impact on ozone readings in 2022.

That issue is going to plague communities as climate change causes northern wildfires to become more common and kick smoke into Michigan, he predicted.

“If we start to essentially cut out bad air quality days because of the claim they were partially influenced by wildfire smoke … , you create this disconnect between the regulatory systems that are meant to protect people and the actual air pollution that people are breathing,” Leonard said.

ckthompson@detroitnews.com

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Detroit, MI

Active saves leader Jansen joining Tigers on 1-year deal (sources)

Published

1 day ago

December 13, 2025

Press Room

Active saves leader Jansen joining Tigers on 1-year deal (sources)

The Tigers’ bullpen revamp for 2026 now includes an unusual feature for the A.J. Hinch era: A veteran closer. Detroit has reached agreement on a one-year contract with four-time All-Star and 16-year veteran Kenley Jansen, sources told MLB.com.
The deal, which is pending a physical and has not been confirmed

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