How Bailey Horn’s Surgery Impacts Long-Term Outlook with Tigers
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The hope that the Detroit Tigers might get an intriguing bullpen piece back for the rest of the season was dashed on Friday.
Per Chris McCosky of the Detroit News on X (formerly Twitter), Horn will have Tommy John surgery on his left arm and will be done for the rest of the season. Given that it’s mid-July and depending on the type of elbow surgery he has, it’s possible the Tigers won’t see Horn on a Major League field until 2028.
Horn had an arthroscopic procedure on his left elbow before the season and had been on the 60-day injured list since April 22. MLB.com reported that Horn had a hydrodissection procedure in June to deal with lingering soreness.
Now, he’ll need baseball’s most common major surgery.
Bailey Horn’s Future With the Tigers
Horn was a fifth-round pick of the Chicago White Sox in 2020. His professional career has been somewhat insane. He’s been in several organizations, including the Chicago Cubs, the Boston Red Sox and the Tigers. In the case of the White Sox and the Tigers, he landed there twice. He pitched in 18 games with Boston in 2024. He pitched in 10 games with the Tigers in 2025 and he thrived.
He went 0-1 with a 1.59 ERA with 10 strikeouts and seven walks in 11.1 innings. He didn’t pitch in the postseason, but he emerged as a solid back-fill option when the Tigers needed one last season. The hope was that he would take the next step and emerge as a potential left-handed set-up arm as Detroit accumulated right-handed closers in free agency.
That didn’t transpire and now his future with Detroit is cloudy. The Tigers don’t have to do anything now. He is on the 60-day injured list and doesn’t count against the 40-man roster. But after the season the Tigers will either have to move him to the 40-man or designate him for assignment.
It’s a calculated risk. Detroit would hope that no one would claim him so they could assign him to the minor leagues and allow him to continue his rehab. His value to them is that he carries at least four more years of team control and showed promise last season.
It has been a particularly rough season when it comes to pitching injuries for Detroit. Future Hall-of-Famer Justin Verlander — who announced before the All-Star break that he would retire after the season — remains on the IL with left hip inflammation. Reliever Will Vest went on the IL earlier this month with a right elbow stress fracture.
Left-hander Brant Hurter and right-hander Burch Smith were both in Florida rehabbing during the All-Star break. Hurter has lumbar spine inflammation, and Smith has right shoulder inflammation.
Young right-hander Jackson Jobe, at one time one of the Tigers’ top prospects, is starting his build-up from Tommy John surgery but likely needs another month before he can be considered an option. Like Horn, right-hander Reese Olson is done for the season after right shoulder surgery.
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Matthew Postins is an award-winning sports journalist who covers Major League Baseball for OnSI. He also covers the Big 12 Conference for Heartland College Sports.
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