Tigers Star Prospect Hao-Yu Lee to Make MLB Debut Against Red Sox

The Detroit Tigers will have one of their top prospects on the field when they face the Boston Red Sox on Friday night.

The Tigers promoted infielder Hao-Yu Lee to the Majors in a move to provide coverage for the 26-man roster as they moved infielder Zach McKinstry to the 10-day injured list with left hip/abdominal inflammation. That move is retroactive to Thursday.

Lee enters his debut as Detroit's No. 6 prospect per MLB Pipeline. The other Top 6 prospect on the MLB roster is Kevin McGonigle.

Because Lee was already on the 40-man roster, the Tigers didn’t not need to clear space for Lee. In a bit of a surprise, he was put in the starting lineup for the Red Sox game.

Hao-Yu Lee’s Debut Lineup

From Taiwan to the Major Leagues

Welcome to The Show, Hao-Yu!

從台灣到MLB

歡迎來到大聯盟，灝宇！ pic.twitter.com/qzdzCzbMUa
— Detroit Tigers (@tigers) April 17, 2026

Lee will make his MLB debut in a game and play third base. The Tigers released their lineup before the game in support of right-hander Casey Mize, who is starting on the mound:

2B Gleyber Torres

SS Kevin McGonigle (L)

DH Jahmai Jones

C Dillon Dingler

LF Matt Vierling

RF Wenceel Perez (S)

1B Spencer Torkelson

2B Hao-Yu Lee

CF Javier Baez

Lee will take his first Major League at-bats against Boston left-hander Ranger Suarez (1-1, 5.02). That’s why the Tigers are going with a predominantly right-handed lineup. McGonigle is the only left-hander and Perez is a switch-hitter.

Lee's promotion has been a long time coming. He joined professional baseball in 2021 when he signed an international free agent contract with the Philadelphia Phillies out of Taiwan. He worked his way through the Philly system for two years before he was traded to the Tigers in a deal that netted Philadelphia starting pitcher Michael Lorenzen.

Since then, Lee's methodically worked his way through the Tigers organization, as he landed at Triple-A Toledo last season for the first time. The Tigers selected his contract in November to protect them from the Rule 5 draft, which put him on the 40-man roster.

Lee was on the 7-day injured list at Toledo earlier this season but got in nine games and has slashed .194/.231/.278 with a home run and seven RBI. Last season he played all year at Toledo and slashed .243/.342/.406 with 14 home runs and 61 RBI in 126 games. That was the most games he played in a season professionally.

Lee has played 385 professional minor league games and has a slash of .271/.358/.433 with 43 home runs and 214 RBI.

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