Justyn-Henry

Malloy

Vierling’s loss is a big one for the Tigers to begin 2025, as he was a solid defender last year who also hit 16 homers with a .735 OPS. With Vierling out, it could open up playing time to begin the year for Justyn-Henry Malloy or Weencel Perez in the outfield, with Andy Ibanez potentially getting more run at third.

With left-handed Matthew Boyd on the mound, Carpenter may not have started anyway, but the left-handed hitting slugger may not be available off the bench due to his hamstring issue. Justyn-Henry Malloy is the designated hitter and will lead off for the winner-take-all contest. The full lineup: DH Malloy, 3B Matt Vierling, LF Riley Greene, 2B Andy Ibanez, 1B Spencer Torkelson, CF Parker Meadows, C Jake Rogers and SS Trey Sweeney.

With the Guardians throwing Matthew Boyd, the Tigers will sit most of their left-handed bats, including Carpenter, Colt Keith, and Zach McKinstry. Justyn-Henry Malloy will DH instead of Carpenter and hit lead-off, while Andy Ibanez will start at second base for Keith and bat third, and Wenceel Perez will start in right field and bat fifth.

The Astros put out their lefty-killer lineup Tuesday, but with right-hander Hunter Brown on the bump, Carpenter will hit near the top of the lineup with Justyn-Henry Malloy. Zach McKinstry is in the lineup in place of Wenceel Perez, and Colt Keith takes over second for Andy Ibanez. The full lineup for the Tigers as they look to clinch a spot in the ALDS against the Guardians: Parker Meadows CF, Carpenter DH, Matt Vierling RF, Riley Greene LF, Keith 2B, Spencer Torkelson 1B, McKinstry 3B, Trey Sweeney SS and Jake Rogers behind the plate.

Matt Vierling is playing third base tonight, so there was an opening for Malloy in the outfield. However, the team is going with the newly activated Wenceel Pérez there. Especially now that Pérez is back, Malloy is going to find time against right-handers very scarce. The rookie is 2-for-12 in two starts and four appearances off the bench since being recalled on Sept. 1.

Malloy will be a bench bat for the Tigers over the final month of the season with rosters expanding. The 24-year-old hit .217/.304/.394 in 204 plate appearances prior to being sent back down in the middle of August.

Malloy loses his spot to Riley Greene after the Tigers got to carry both with the 27-man rosters for last night’s game. The 24-year-old was hitting .217/.304/.394 in 204 plate appearances. His 36% strikeout rate was a big problem, especially since his exit velocity numbers were pretty mediocre.

Despite not technically being listed as a starter in many places, Malloy has now started five of the last six games for the Tigers, split between left field and designated hitter. Parker Meadows is locked into the center-field role, and Kerry Carpenter appears to be occupying the full-time designated hitter role since coming back, but Malloy has a chance to carve out playing time in left field with Matt Vierling in right field. That could get complicated when Riley Greene returns from his rehab assignment, but Vierling is sitting on Thursday and could move to third base when Greene returns, so Malloy, who’s hitting just .222 in 21 games since the All-Star break needs to start hitting soon if he wants to hold onto this playing time.

No word yet on the reason for the late scratch, but Baez was in the team’s initial lineup and then pulled in a revised version a couple of hours later. Zach McKinstry will slide over to play shortstop while Justin-Henry Malloy enters the lineup in left field and will bat seventh against Bryan Woo and the Mariners on Wednesday evening at Comerica Park.

The 24-year-old rookie slugger opened the scoring in the ballgame with a 403-foot (103.8-mph EV) two-run blast off of left-hander Cole Ragans in the home half of the first inning. That would wind up being the extent of the Tigers’ offense. Malloy also singled and drew a pair of walks in the contest, finishing the night 2-for-2. On the season, he’s now slashing .219/.316/.431 with eight long balls and 19 RBI.