Tigers Intriguing Pitching Prospect to Make Long-Awaiting Return to Majors

The long road back to the Majors for Detroit Tigers pitcher Sawyer Gipson-Long will conclude on Wednesday against the Chicago White Sox.

Tigers manager A.J. Hinch told reporters on Tuesday that Gipson-Long would start for the Tigers in place of Jackson Jobe, who is on the injured list with a grade one right flexor strain.

Per the Detroit Free Press, Hinch wanted to sidestep the news. But he admitted to reporters that he told White Sox manager Will Venable that Gipson-Long would get the start.

Detroit will activate Gipson-Long ahead of Wednesday’s game. The Free Press indicated that the Tigers would have to make 40-man and 26-man roster moves to accommodate his promotion.

Sawyer Gipson-Long’s Return to Majors Long Time Coming

This isn’t the 27-year-old’s first Major League start. The No. 29 prospect in the Tigers’ system made four starts in 2023, as he went 1-0 with a 2.70 ERA. He pitched 20 innings, struck out 26 and walked eight. He was starting to fulfill the promise expected after he was a sixth-round pick of the Minnesota Twins in 2019.

The Tigers acquired Gipson-Long in a trade with the Twins in 2022 in which Detroit sent Minnesota Michael Fulmer.

But physically things became a nightmare after that. He started 2024 on the 15-day injured list with a groin strain. While he was rehabbing the groin injury, he let trainers know he was experiencing tightness in his right forearm, which would require elbow surgery on April 22 of last year.

Later in 2024, he needed surgery on his left hip to repair a labral tear.

Gipson-Long got back on the field this season with rehab assignments at Class A Lakeland, High-A West Michigan and Triple-A Toledo. In five combined starts he did not factor in a decision. But he had a 2.20 ERA with 16 strikeouts and two walks in 16.1 innings.

He was on the 60-day injured list to start this season, but he became eligible for activation late last month.

So, Wednesday’s game will be his first Major League appearance in 615 days. He is still considered a prospect because he hasn’t met the necessary service time to no longer be a prospect.

Along with Jobe, Reese Olson is also on the 15-day IL. Keider Montero has joined the rotation, along with Tarik Skubal, Jack Flaherty and Casey Mize, who was on the injured list for a couple of weeks last month.