Matt

Vierling

With the Tigers’ lineup at full strength for the first time all season, manager A.J. Hinch is going to have to mix and match, which means more days off for most of his regulars. On Sunday, that means Pérez and Matt Vierling getting a breather. The 25-year-old outfielder has been awfully impressive through his first 99 plate appearances, slashing .289/.343/.611 with six homers and 17 RBI.

The versatile 28-year-old will return to the Tigers’ starting lineup on Saturday where he’ll start in center field and bat seventh against Twins’ right-hander Bailey Ober. Trey Sweeney was optioned to Triple-A Toledo in a corresponding move on Saturday.

He’ll stay there at least through the weekend before being re-evaluated. The 28-year-old has been sidelined since late May due to renewed inflammation in his shoulder. The fact that he’s already back in live game action is very encouraging though and it’s possible that he could rejoin the big league club at some point next week if everything goes well.

The notable development per Detroit’s latest injury report is that Vierling has also resumed throwing after hitting the injured list back in late May with shoulder inflammation. The 28-year-old outfielder should be ready for a rehab assignment at some point in the coming days.

Not great. Nothing definitive on the severity as Vierling is set to undergo further evaluation and imaging, according to a team medical report. The 28-year-old lefty masher missed nearly two months at the outset of the year due to a shoulder strain.

Vierling has gone 1-for-5 with a pair of RBI in two games since returning from the injured list on Friday. The 28-year-old lefty-masher has been bumped up to the leadoff spot to face Guardians southpaw Logan Allen with Kerry Carpenter getting the day off. He offers some appeal for fantasy managers in daily formats when he gets his opportunities against left-handed starters.

The versatile 28-year-old has been sidelined since late March due to a right shoulder strain. While he’s active for Friday night’s game against the Guardians, he is not in the Tigers’ starting lineup. Expect to see him off the bench at some point before rejoining the starting lineup on Saturday.

Vierling has been playing on a minor league rehab assignment at Triple-A Toledo. While he has seen significant action in the outfield, he hasn’t had enough work at third base just yet to test his throwing arm sufficiently. He’ll face fellow rehabbing teammate Casey Mize (hamstring) in a live bullpen session at Comerica Park on Monday before rejoining the Mud Hens on Tuesday to continue his rehab assignment. If all goes well, he could potentially return at some point over the weekend.

The most important part is that Matt Vierling finally played the field after having only been the designated hitter in his other starts. The plan is for Vierling to also play some center field and third base this week to see how his arm responds to the throwing. If everything continues to progress, he could return to Detroit next week.

Vierling is only in the lineup at designated hitter for now while he completes a return-to-play throwing progression. The Tigers are highly unlikely to call him up until he can throw and play the field.