A right rotator cuff strain delayed Matt Vierling’s season debut until May 23, and he played in only four games before inflammation in that same right shoulder sent him back to the injured list. The Tigers utilityman’s luck may be starting to change, however, as a visit with Dr. Keith Meister earlier this week resulted in what Vierling described as “absolutely the best-case scenario” of just inflammation.
“I was nervous it might be something more serious, but the MRI showed that everything was fine structurally….I will start throwing [Sunday] and build up from there. There is no exact timeline but hopefully sooner than later,” Vierling told the Detroit News’ Chris McCosky and other reporters yesterday. Vierling also noted that he received an injection in his shoulder during his appointment.
Vierling is the only position player on the Tigers’ injured list, after a swath of early-season injuries left the club heavily depleted in the outfield. Parker Meadows and Wenceel Perez have now both returned from the IL, Zach McKinstry remains a Swiss Army knife around the diamond, and Javier Baez has also evolved from a shortstop into more of a utility player (and a part-time center fielder).
All that’s missing now is Vierling, who filled a multi-positional role for Detroit in 2023-24 by suiting up at third base and at all three outfield positions, as well as a couple of appearances at first and second base. Vierling also hit a respectable .259/.320/.406 over 1097 plate appearances over those two seasons, and his right-handed bat can help balance out a Tigers lineup that is still heavy in left-handed hitters.
Turning to the pitching side of the injured list, Tigers manager A.J. Hinch provided McCosky and company with an update on Reese Olson’s status. Olson received an injection in his inflamed right ring finger last Wednesday, and threw a bullpen session on Saturday. The next step will be incorporating changeups in Olson’s throwing sessions and future bullpens, which is the key step since it was throwing the changeup that led to the inflammation in the first place.
Olson increased his changeup usage this season, throwing the pitch 25.3% of the time and making it his chief secondary offering behind his sinker (31%). An average pitch for Olson over his first two MLB seasons, the changeup was now suddenly his most effective offering as per Statcast’s run value metric, with the changeup registering a +5 this year. This was,…
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