Connect with us

Detroit, MI

Detroit Tigers suffer rash of injuries to infielders throughout organization

Published

on

Detroit Tigers suffer rash of injuries to infielders throughout organization


PITTSBURGH — The Detroit Tigers continue to be one of the healthiest teams in baseball.

But the infield depth has taken a hit.

Triple-A Toledo shortstops Ryan Kreidler and Eddys Leonard — both right-handed hitters and members of the 40-man roster — have been sidelined with injuries. Kreidler suffered a right index finger fracture; Leonard suffered a left oblique strain.

Advertisement

IN THE BIGS: Tigers place Andy Ibáñez on injured list, promote Wenceel Pérez for MLB debut

The injuries occurred in a span of three days in games with the Mud Hens.

The two injuries in the minor leagues impacted the Tigers at the big-league level when Andy Ibáñez, a right-handed hitting infielder, landed on the injured list Monday with a left hamstring strain. Another right-handed hitting infielder would have filled the void, but Kreidler and Leonard weren’t available because of their injuries.

The Tigers already called up switch-hitting outfielder Wenceel Pérez. Outfielder Matt Vierling, to make room for Pérez to get reps in the outfield, is going to play more third base again until Ibáñez returns.

Advertisement

It probably would have been Kreidler instead of Pérez, but Kreidler was hit by a pitch in Thursday’s game and fractured an index finger.

GOING DOWN: Tigers shortstop Ryan Kreidler is headed to Toledo: ‘I should’ve made the team’

The fractured finger marks his third injury issue in the past three seasons. He broke his right hand on a hit by pitch and had surgery in 2022, underwent core muscle surgery in 2023 and broke a finger on his right hand in 2024.

Kreidler, an elite defender at shortstop, had a tremendous spring training, hitting .306 with two home runs, eight walks and 11 strikeouts across 45 plate appearances in 20 games. The 26-year-old has logged 37 games in his MLB career, whereas Leonard is still looking to make his MLB debut.

Advertisement

Leonard, who takes a backseat to Kreidler on defense, also raked in spring training. The 23-year-old hit .333 with two homers, three walks and four strikeouts across 37 plate appearances in 18 games.

Leonard strained his left oblique on a swing in Sunday’s game. He is receiving treatment to reduce the inflammation, and he is scheduled to report to the spring training facility in Lakeland, Florida, to begin his rehabilitation program.

[ MUST LISTEN: Make “Days of Roar” your go-to Detroit Tigers podcast, available anywhere you listen to podcasts (Apple, Spotify) ] 

Here’s the scouting report on both players: Kreidler’s bat is unproven, but he is a wizard on defense; Leonard’s chase rate is concerning, but he hits the ball as hard as any player. The Tigers plan to call upon those two players at some point this season, but they couldn’t get on the first shuttle from Toledo to Detroit because of injuries.

MONDAY’S GAME: Reese Olson not sharp enough in Tigers’ third straight loss, 7-4 at Pittsburgh Pirates

Advertisement

Kevin McGonigle, Freddy Pacheco

Fellow shortstop Kevin McGonigle, a 19-year-old prospect, suffered a left hamstring strain in spring training and hasn’t made his season debut yet. He has been completing rehab and a return-to-play progression during extended spring training in Lakeland.

McGonigle, selected No. 37 overall in the 2023 draft, is expected to report to Low-A Lakeland, joining fellow top prospect Max Clark, but he should be a candidate for quick promotion to High-A West Michigan.

That’s because McGonigle can hit.

Last season, McGonigle hit .315 with one home run, 18 walks and 10 strikeouts across 21 games at the Florida Complex League and Low-A Lakeland levels. In Low-A, McGonigle hit .350 with one homer, seven walks and five strikeouts across 12 games.

JEFF SEIDEL: Tigers’ Eddys Leonard does not care where he plays. Just put him in the lineup

Advertisement

Right-handed reliever Freddy Pacheco, who throws a high-velocity fastball and a nasty slider out of the bullpen, is making progress in his return from Tommy John surgery. He is throwing bullpens twice per week.

The 25-year-old underwent elbow surgery in June 2023.

Pacheco hasn’t been healthy since the 2022 season in the St. Louis Cardinals’ organization, when he posted a 3.05 ERA with 28 walks and 84 strikeouts across 62 innings in 50 relief appearances for Double-A Springfield and Triple-A Memphis. That year, his 96.5 mph fastball had a 26.5% whiff rate and his 84.4 mph slider had a 54.6% whiff rate.

Although Pacheco likely reports to Triple-A Toledo when fully healthy, he could be an asset for the Tigers down the stretch this season, but only if he recaptures his fastball command and slider shape.

Sawyer Gipson-Long

In the big leagues, the Tigers have more than one player on the injury report for the first time since March 8.

Advertisement

Right-hander Sawyer Gipson-Long has been on the report since the first week of spring training with a left groin strain, but at some point in the past couple of days, he reported right forearm tightness.

The 26-year-old, who posted a 2.70 ERA in four starts with the Tigers last season, completed three innings in his first rehab start Sunday for Low-A Lakeland, allowing one run on three hits and zero walks with four strikeouts. He complained of forearm tightness after the 41-pitch outing.

Gipson-Long is receiving further evaluation.

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

Listen to our weekly Tigers show “Days of Roar” every Monday afternoon on demand at freep.com, Apple, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts. And catch all of our podcasts and daily voice briefing at freep.com/podcasts.

Advertisement





Source link

Detroit, MI

Cold start to workweek: Flurries, wind chills fall to single digits, dry midweek ahead for Metro Detroit

Published

on

Cold start to workweek: Flurries, wind chills fall to single digits, dry midweek ahead for Metro Detroit


4Warn Weather – Brutally cold with a few flakes possible Monday night, remaining cold and cloudy for Veterans Day on Tuesday.

Monday night: Decreasing clouds, partly cloudy skies. Low: 23.

Tuesday: Mostly cloudy skies. Continued cold. High: 38.

Tuesday night: Partly cloudy skies. Another cold overnight. Low: 30.

Advertisement

Wednesday: Mostly cloudy skies. High: 46.

Wednesday: Partly cloudy skies. Low: 30.

Teasable elements:

  • Wind chills into the single digits and teens out the door on Tuesday Morning

  • Well below average temperatures for the next few days

  • More clouds than sunshine for Tuesday, more sunshine moves in mid-week

  • Dry forecast for most of next week, with warming temperatures by the end of the week

  • Next rain chances move in for the upcoming weekend

We’ve seen some snow showers, some clouds, and some sunshine in most locations to start the week, after the snow showers to end the weekend on Sunday.

And we’ve got a few flakes in the forecast for Tuesday before we put winter weather “on pause” for a little while!

Advertisement

As we work through the overnight hours tonight, we will keep some cloud cover in the forecast as we are still dealing with that northwest flow, with snow showers in our Northeastern Communities and a few flurries elsewhere.

Overnight lows dropping into the lower 20s, and expect wind chills into the teens and potentially single digits outside the metro.

We will keep some cloud cover in the forecast for Tuesday and Wednesday, with warmer temperatures starting to move into the region.

High temperatures remaining in the 30s by Tuesday, then into the upper 40s by Wednesday.

Expect a few flurries possible on Tuesday as the northwest flow continues. Gusty winds are expected, gusting upwards of 20-25 MPH on Tuesday as well.

Advertisement

The drier weather continues, looking ahead into the end of next week and the start of next weekend.

We will keep some sunshine and clouds in the forecast for Thursday and into Friday.

High temperatures continue to warm up for everyone. We’re expecting high temperatures into the upper 40s on Thursday, then back into the 50s by Friday.

We will bring more cloud cover into the forecast by the start of next weekend, on Saturday, and high temperatures will continue to warm.

Expect high temperatures into the mid-50s by Saturday afternoon.

Advertisement

Our next chance of rain moves into the region late Saturday night and into the end of the weekend on Sunday.

High temperatures in the mid to upper 50s will fall into the upper 40s after that cold front moves through the region late Sunday.

Mostly cloudy skies are expected for the start of next week on Monday.


Find the latest forecast from the 4Warn Weather team here

Remember to download the free 4Warn weather app — it’s easily one of the best in the nation. Just search your app store under WDIV, and it’s right there, available for both iPhones and Androids! Or click the appropriate link below.

Advertisement

Copyright 2025 by WDIV ClickOnDetroit – All rights reserved.



Source link

Continue Reading

Detroit, MI

Second-half surge lifts Detroit Pistons to 6th straight win

Published

on

Second-half surge lifts Detroit Pistons to 6th straight win


PHILADELPHIA — At halftime of Sunday night’s game at Xfinity Mobile Arena, it looked like the Detroit Pistons would see their five-game winning streak come to a screeching halt.

The hometown Philadelphia 76ers were moving the basketball, hitting shots and playing with a verve that the Pistons — despite being the rested team, having not played the night before, as Philadelphia did — didn’t seem capable of matching.

But then the second half started. And behind a spectacular performance from Cade Cunningham — who scored 24 of his 26 points after the break, including a spectacular dunk over former Piston Andre Drummond in the game’s closing minutes — Detroit secured a 111-108 victory, givingthe franchise its best start to a season in a generation.

“It’s not hard to believe,” Cunningham said when asked whether he was surprised by Detroit’s 8-2 start only two years after its 14-68 season. “Even then, I couldn’t believe that we were in such a low.

Advertisement

“So to be here now, I feel like we’re where we’re supposed to be. We got a lot of guys that have always been big-time players, have always found ways to win at every level, and the NBA is tough. So we got here and we had to figure it out together. We were young, but now we’re getting our foot in and we’re figuring it out.”

It’s a lot easier to figure things out when your team is led by a player like Cunningham, who has backed up last season’s breakout performance — when he made his first All-Star and All-NBA appearances of his career and led Detroit to the playoffs — by leading the league in assists and putting up one impressive performance after another in the early going.

Cunningham had entered Sunday’s game having scored at least 30 points in three consecutive games and in four of Detroit’s last five. But after playing well below his standards in that first half — with just two points on 1-for-9 shooting from the field — he completely flipped things around, allowing Detroit to post its best record through 10 games since starting the 2005-06 season with a 9-1 record.

Cunningham’s 17 points in the third quarter immediately pulled Detroit back into the game after it trailed by as many as 13. And that was before his spectacular dunk over Drummond with just under two minutes to go helped in denying a late push by Tyrese Maxey (32 points, seven assists) and the 76ers (6-4).

“Man, he could get one of those every game,” Jalen Duren(21 points, 16 rebounds) said with a smile. “I don’t know why he doesn’t. But I love it. I mean, I’ve seen a lot of that. His game speaks for itself.

Advertisement

“I continue to say [he’s the] best guard in the NBA, so he going to make plays like that.”

Duren has also taken a massive step forward this season, with Sunday’s game marking the sixth time he has eclipsed 20 points this season. His 19.4 points per game this season dwarfs his averages from last season (11.8) and 2023-24 (13.8).

He has also played a significant role in Detroit’s third-ranked defense through 10 games, and he contributed another two steals and two blocks Sunday while continuing to be one of the league’s most imposing rebounders.

“He’s been dominant,” Pistons coach J.B. Bickerstaff said. “The way he helps us protect the rim, the job he does on the boards, the threat that he is in the pick-and-roll and in the pocket … he’s a guy that can connect our group, too. He’s another guy who can facilitate and playmake, and then he’s an elite communicator, which has been a huge growth for him defensively. He’s talking to guys, always in the right spot, so I thought he was great again tonight.”

Cunningham and Duren also share the connection of having lived through that dismal 14-68 season two years ago, when it seemed like the Pistons were miles away from being relevant in the Eastern Conference. But as the league wakes up Monday morning, it will be Detroit looking down at the rest of the conference, and looking up at only one team — the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder — in the league standings.

Advertisement

“I think sky’s the limit,” Duren said when asked about his expectations. “I think we keep following J.B., keep working hard, keep defending, keep playing together … I think sky’s the limit at that point.”

For his part, Cunningham said that even when things were at their lowest ebb two seasons ago, his belief in himself kept him pushing him forward. It is that same belief that won’t allow him to be satisfied with only a good start to the season.

“Yeah, I mean, more than anything, my faith in myself, knowing that I was going to be successful in the NBA, knowing that I was going to do everything it took to be successful,” he said. “And I got lucky and fell into a franchise in the city that has the same mentality that I felt like it took for me to take the next step.

“So it has been a hell of a ride, man. It’s been a lot of ups and downs. It’s still early, though … I’m not above myself because we’re 8-2. I think this [success] is something that we all want, but we want something bigger than this. So we just want to keep our heads down and keep working.”br/]

Copyright © 2025 ESPN Internet Ventures. All rights reserved.

Advertisement



Source link

Continue Reading

Detroit, MI

5 things to watch: Lions at Commanders

Published

on

5 things to watch: Lions at Commanders


The Detroit Lions are looking to get back to their winning ways today in Washington against the Commanders. Detroit has won their last 12 games coming off a loss and haven’t dropped back-to-back contests since October of 2022.

Here are five things to watch out for in today’s matchup:

Quarterback Jared Goff was sacked a season-high five times last week in a loss to Minnesota and he was hit 11 times total as the Vikings were credited with 26 total pressures in that contest.

Minnesota took advantage of some protection breakdowns and mismatches and to their credit schemed up some nice pressure packages Detroit didn’t handle well. Detroit rushed for just 65 yards and Minnesota also racked up 10 tackles for loss.

Advertisement

“Sunday wasn’t up to our standard at all,” All-Pro right tackle Penei Sewell said this week “One of our worst performances and we just have to be better in terms of throughout the week communications-wise and game-plan-wise and we have to come together at the end of the day and be on the same page.”

Washington ranks 12th in the NFL with 22 sacks but their leading sacker, Dorance Armstrong Jr. (5.5), was recently placed on injured reserve. Edge rusher Jacob Martin has 3.5 sacks on the year.



Source link

Continue Reading
Advertisement

Trending