Reese Olson to the 15-day IL, reliever Chase Lee recalled

Olson is dealing with inflammation in his ring finger.

No injuries are good injuries, but more than a quarter of the way through the season the Detroit Tigers have been fortunate in terms of pitching health. RHP Casey Mize hit the injured list on May 9 with what was described as a minor right hamstring strain. Now RHP Reese Olson has gone on the 15-day injured list with inflammation in his right ring finger. Reliever Chase Lee has been recalled from Triple-A Toledo in his place.

At least there’s nothing major involved, and nothing involving trouble with their arms. Neither injury should impact performance when they return nor keep Mize or now Olson out for more than a short time. The Tigers like to get their starters extra rest early in the season anyway, in the hope of having them sharp in September and beyond, so all in all the injuries haven’t affected them much.

Indeed, Mize is on track to return to the rotation this weekend at home against the Cleveland Guardians . He threw a simulated five innings to a hitting group including Jake Rogers, Matt Vierling, Wenceel Pérez, and Parker Meadows on Monday at Comerica Park per Chris McCosky of the Detroit News.

As for Olson, his injured list stay is retroactive to May 18. He threw a very good game the last time out. The right-hander one-hit the Toronto Blue Jays for six innings on Saturday, but the issue was flaring up throughout that start and didn’t resolve quickly. The Tigers will make sure he’s 100 percent good to go before he returns, content to keep getting starts from RHP Keider Montero in the rotation for the time being.

However, the way the rotation is currently lined up, Montero won’t be in line to handle Olson’s turn in the rotation. Instead the Tigers will push Jack Flaherty’s scheduled start from Wednesday to Thursday against their divisional rival.

So, we’ll see what the cauldron of pitching chaos has in store. The Tigers 40-man roster has all its starting pitchers beyond the regular rotation and Montero on the injured list. There’s no sign of Alex Cobb nearing a rehab assignment for example. Ty Madden, RHP Sawyer Gipson-Long, and RHP Jose Urquidy are all on the 60-day injured list and not yet near a return to major league action. A plan for Wednesday based around bulk innings for someone like LHP Brant Hurter might be in order, but we’ll have to wait and see what the Tigers decide.