Tigers Place Jack Flaherty On Injured List

The Tigers announced they’ve placed Jack Flaherty on the 15-day injured list with flexor inflammation. Detroit recalled righty Ty Madden from Triple-A Toledo to replace him on the pitching staff.

Flaherty evidently suffered the injury during yesterday’s start at Wrigley Field. He came out after four innings, but that was initially believed to be due to him throwing 82 pitches in an inefficient appearance. He gave up three runs on four hits and a pair of walks.

This is the second injured list stint of the season for Flaherty. He had a minimal absence in mid-June with a peroneal strain. Jason Beck of MLB.com reports that the Tigers believe this forearm issue to be minor and are hopeful it’ll be close to another minimal stay. It will rule him out beyond the August 3 trade deadline.

Flaherty is an impending free agent who’d be a trade candidate if the Tigers sell. He’s the third-most exciting possibility behind Tarik Skubal and Casey Mize. Flaherty has a 4.59 ERA despite a strong 26.2% strikeout rate across 19 starts. He’d seemingly turned a corner after an ugly start, however, posting a 2.67 ERA across 33 2/3 frames in his last seven outings. Flaherty’s $20MM salary is an obstacle to a trade, but he’d pitched well enough to draw interest from contenders. The Tigers can still deal him while he’s on the injured list, albeit with another complication in talks with other teams.

There’s no guarantee the Tigers sell. They’ve played well since an abysmal May and are within 4.5 games of a playoff spot. They’re still six games under .500 but have a manageable schedule. They’ll host the Royals for a four-game series this weekend, then welcome a Wild Card competitor in the Orioles for three. They’ll play a three-game set against a reeling A’s team before the deadline. Detroit also has two series apiece against their two biggest divisional competitors, the White Sox and Guardians, in the final two months to try to close a 6.5 game gap in the AL Central.

Keider Montero will move back into Flaherty’s rotation spot in the short term. He’ll take the ball for tomorrow’s series finale against Colin Rea and the Cubs. Skubal, Mize, Framber Valdez and Troy Melton round out a still strong rotation. Jackson Jobe is on a rehab assignment from last year’s elbow surgery and could be in the mix by the end of August.