Two Detroit Tigers Pitchers Enjoying Positive Reports as They Return From Injury

The Detroit Tigers enter play on Saturday at 52-64 this season. They are in third place in the American League Central and though they are just 7.0 games back in the division, they are essentially just playing out the string.

As they do that, they got some positive news on the injury front regarding a pair of injured pitchers.

The following update comes on former No. 1 overall draft pick Casey Mize. It comes via the Rotowire fantasy baseball portal:

Mize (elbow) is scheduled to throw his next bullpen session Saturday, Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press reports.

ANALYSIS
Mize threw is first bullpen session July 28 after undergoing Tommy John surgery last June. He only threw fastballs in that session, and it remains to be seen what he will throw in his next one. It is still a possibility that Mize returns before the end of the season, but he is running out time to get fully stretched out in 2023.

It would be great to see him return this season, even for just a few short appearances, as it would build momentum towards 2024.

Picked first overall out of Auburn in the 2018 draft, Mize made his debut in 2020. He's 7-13 in his young career with a 4.29 ERA but showed real promise in 2021 when he pitched to a 3.71 ERA in 30 starts.

He got hurt at the beginning of 2022. He's part of a young core of Tigers pitchers that hasn't been able to stay healthy including Matt Manning and Tarik Skubal, though the latter are back right now.

As for an update on Spencer Turnbull:

Turnbull (neck) is scheduled to make his next rehab start Tuesday for Triple-A Toledo, Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press reports.

ANALYSIS
In his first two Triple-A rehab starts he allowed five earned runs in 7.2 innings. Turnbull is still ramping up his workload as he continues to make strides to a return, but with a 7.23 ERA in the majors this season, it remains in question whether the Tigers will make room in the rotation for him.

He's 12-29 lifetime with a 4.55 ERA.

He'll be a free agent at the end of the 2023 season.

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