The Tigers moved Casey Mize to the 60-day injured list Tuesday not because he had a setback in his rehab, but because they needed a spot on the active roster for reliever Will Vest -- and because Mize won't be active anytime soon.
Mize landed on the 10-day IL with an elbow sprain April 15; 60 days will bring him to June 14. The Tigers are acknowledging he won't be healthy enough to pitch before then.
The positive is that Mize has resumed throwing in Lakeland. The negative is that he remains a ways away from Detroit.
"Casey has played catch for multiple days in a row and reported progress, which is good," A.J. Hinch said Wednesday. "But he’s not going to be game-ready by the time his 60 days are up, so that (move) was a no-brainer."
Mize is one of six Tigers starters on the injured list, including every pitcher in the club's Opening Day rotation besides Tarik Skubal. Detroit lost another starter Tuesday night when Joey Wentz was pulled with a shoulder sprain. All told, the Tigers have lost 10 players to the injured list this season, including their starting corner outfielders in Robbie Grossman (neck strain) and Austin Meadows (vertigo).
Asked Wednesday about the rash of injuries, Hinch pointed to the abnormal MLB calendar since the spring of 2020.
"I think it’s cumulative, just one man’s opinion, from the pandemic year to the lockout to the shortened spring. The physical toll, that’s gotta contribute on some level," said Hinch. "Our stuff is so random, I’d probably feel better about assessing all of this if it was one issue: 'Hey, it’s forearms, it’s elbows, it’s shoulders.' We can assess all that when there’s a common theme. Other than being an active player on our team, there’s no commonality.
"It’s frustrating. We’ve looked into a lot of different things, but case by case, there’s no link that leads us to any conclusion."
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