Buck Farmer Set to Return on Thursday
Tigers setup man Buck Farmer is ready to return to the backend of a bullpen that could use his services after a rocky past couple of late-inning performances.
Farmer, who's typically used in the eighth inning to bridge the gap to closer Joe Jimenez, has missed the past nine games with a groin strain.
Six of the seven innings pitched by Farmer this season have been scoreless. The 29-year-old has once again proved himself to be a reliable asset for the club's bullpen.
He'll be eligible to return in the final of a four-game set with the White Sox on Thursday after tossing a 15-pitch simulated game on Wednesday.
"He felt great," said pitching coach Rick Anderson on Wednesday. "Everything was good. Ball came out his hand and all his pitches were good. We're excited to get Buck back."
Farmer last pitched on August 9th at PNC Park in Pittsburg to help secure a 2-1 Tigers victory. Since then, quite a bit has changed for the Tigers. At the time of Farmer's last appearance, the Tigers were an 8-5 team, and just a day later would get off to their best start since 2015 at 9-5.
Detroit has lost eight in a row since then, and the foreseeable future is challenging, to say the least.
This weekend's schedule takes the Tigers to Cleveland to play an Indians team that they haven't beaten in a mind-boggling twenty attempts. Three games with the NL Central-leading Chicago Cubs follow, and four matchups with the AL Central-leading Minnesota Twins fill out the rest of August for the Tigers.
