Detroit Tigers Receive Devastating Injury Update With Utility Man Headed to IL

The Detroit Tigers received some terrible news on Friday morning when it was revealed one of their most important players will not be ready to go at the start of the season.

As first reported by Evan Woodbery of the MLive Media Group, Tigers utility man Matt Vierling - who is expected to play a critical role this season in numerous areas - is going to miss the start of the season with a strained rotator cuff in his right shoulder.

The team's injury report states Vierling will begin an unspecified "period of rest" before he is reevaluated.

Vierling, who was first reported as dealing with a shoulder issue on Thursday, was set to have his status updated on Friday, and unfortunately for Detroit the news surrounding their ironman is not good.

At this time, it's unknown exactly how long Vierling will be out for, but by how it sounds it likely will not be an issue that completely derails his season.

Vierling was widely expected to be the team's Opening Day third baseman having shown an ability to hold his own at the hot corner throughout his career when asked to do so.

The long-term plan at third base remains to be seeen, but Vierling is certainly a better outfielder than he is a third baseman, so in an ideal world the Tigers would not have to keep him there for the majority of the season.

A backup plan in the works which appears it will have to be deployed from the start of the year is rookie Jace Jung, who is naturally more of a second baseman and has questionable arm strength but the need at third will likely force him there for his first full MLB season.

Detroit of course missed out on Alex Bregman despite an extremely competitive offer for the two-time All-Star, an offer which if accepted obviously would have solved a ton of the team's issues both in the lineup and on the diamond.

Other options outside of Jung could include guys like Zach McKinstry, Andy Ibáñez, or some sort of configuration where Trey Sweeney moves over and Javier Báez steps back into the shortstop role after an injury riddled and non-productive last several seasons.

Many have had their eyes on prospect Hao-Yu Lee as well during camp, who while very exciting for the future has not even played a game in Triple-A yet and likely is not a realistic Opening Day option.

Regardless, the Tigers look like they will have to get creative to fill the role of Vierling until he can return.

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