The Detroit Tigers ended Thursday holding on to the best record in baseball, despite a lengthy series of injuries â the latest occurring in Thursday’s game at a rain-soaked Comerica Park against the Cleveland Guardians.
In an alarming development, the Tigers highest-profile offseason acquisition, second baseman Gleyber Torres, exited the game in the fourth inning after lining out to center field. He was seen on video heading down stairs toward the Tigers clubhouse, visibly limping.
While the extent of Torres injury was unclear as of Thursday evening, the Tigers announced that the 28-year-old Caracas, Venezuela, native was experiencing “lower right leg discomfort,” as reported by Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press.
Torres ‘Under Evaluation’ For Leg Malady
The Tigers said that Torres was “under evaluation” for the apparent injury. Manager A.J. Hinch put utility player Andy Ibáñez into the game at second base to replace Torres.
“Worth noting: Gleyber Torres lined out to end the third inning, then exited the game. The ball in play â hit with a 105.3 mph exit velocity â had a .670 expected batting average,” Petzold wrote . “But Torres was slow out of the box and didn’t run to first base.”
The Tigers had won seven of their last nine games ahead of Thursday’s matchup with the Guardians, bringing their record to a Major League-best 33-17 .
They lost to Cleveland 7-0 , but even with a loss on Thursday the Tigers would still be narrowly ahead of the 32-18 Philadelphia Phillies in the competition for best record in MLB.
The injury is the second for Torres already this season, after the Tigers signed him away from the New York Yankees as a free agent in December . Torres, who revealed later that the Yankees never even made him an offer to stay in the Bronx, signed a one-year, $15 million deal with Detroit.
But in just the second game of the season, on March 28, Torres apparently injured himself when he hit a home run off of Yoshinobu Yamamoto of the Los Angeles Dodgers. During his round-the-bases trot, Torres grabbed his right side, clearly in pain.
2nd Baseman Has ‘Quietly’ Been a Top Hitter for Detroit
The injury turned out to be an oblique strain , sending Torres to the injured list. He returned to the lineup on April 11 .
Torres certainly seemed to have put the oblique injury behind him. So far in the month of May, prior to Thursday, he totaled 18 hits and nine walks in 75 plate appearances , for an .852 OPS.
According to Tigers beat writer Jason Beck of MLB.com, Torres “has quietly been one of the top performers during Detroitâs hot start, batting .277/.358/.426 with five home runs, 24 RBIs, four stolen bases and more walks (16) than strikeouts (15) in 38 games.”
The injury to Torres comes just three days after the Tigers were forced to place right-handed starter Reese Olson on the injured list with “right finger inflammation.”
Olson, at least in the early stages of the 2025 campaign, was having the best season of his three-year career, boasting a 2.96 ERA with 51 strikeouts in 48 2/3 innings.
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