DETROIT -- Matt Vierling spent Wednesday and Thursday night facing Single-A pitchers, batting third for the Lakeland Flying Tigers, as part of the finishing touches on his rehab assignment. He then boarded a morning flight back to Detroit, where his welcome back to the big leagues was a Friday night pinch-hit appearance against Guardians closer Emmanuel Clase with two outs in the ninth.
After three months of rehabbing his right rotator cuff muscle strain and watching the Tigers from the sidelines and from afar, he’ll gladly take it.
“Three months felt like three years,” Vierling said before Friday’s 3-1 loss to the Guardians. “Once the boys started playing real games, it started to get pretty tough.”
Vierling couldn’t rescue Detroit on Friday night. His first big-league pitch was a 100.3 mph cutter, the kind of arsenal he didn’t see with Triple-A Toledo, let alone in Lakeland. He saw three more cutters at 99-100 mph before fouling out to right field to end the Tigers’ second consecutive loss to their division rivals.
Yet the past two nights have shown why the Tigers need Vierling back so badly, as well as rehabbing outfielders Wenceel Pérez and Parker Meadows over the next couple weeks. As well as Detroit has played -- still owning the American League’s best record -- there are signs that the wear and tear of the hot start is setting in on some players.
Friday’s lineup did not include Zach McKinstry and Riley Greene, both of whom were left out to catch their breath, both of whom were key reasons the Tigers played so well despite so many early-season injuries.
“Physically, we’re not in a great place, just being candid,” manager A.J. Hinch said before the game. “We’ve got guys dealing with a lot of different things, and we’ve got to balance sort of short-term needs on that [given] night and long-term running this race.
“They’re all fine. McKinstry’s played in almost every game the entire season. Riley, it always feels like he’s right on that edge of dealing with something. And we’re just trying to be smart with what we’re doing and where we’re at. Obviously when Gleyber [Torres] gets knocked out of the game [Thursday], the alarm goes off on how to handle these guys and how much to play them and where to play them. I’ve got to make judgment calls on whether they’re in a good place or not.”
Greene, a big reason the Tigers were able to take two of three in St. Louis earlier in the week, pinch-hit for Dillon Dingler in the eighth inning Friday and struck out against Guardians reliever Hunter Gaddis. Vierling hit in the ninth for Akil Baddoo, who has played standout defense since his call-up last week but is 2-for-17 at the plate.
“These guys are battling,” Hinch said after the game. “They’re not feeling great. It’s not an excuse. We tried to be a little bit more aggressive today with [Guardians starter Slade] Cecconi. He threw a ton of strikes, and he beat us. But I’m in the trenches with these guys. They’re doing everything they can. It’s been a couple games of quiet offensive production, but we’ll be just fine.”
The Tigers have been anticipating Vierling’s return enough that they put him on an early-morning flight to Florida after bad weather rained out one game in Triple-A Toledo and shortened another.
“We were kind of spread out [on the plane], just because it was so last-minute,” Vierling said. “We were in first class. Some people were in the back. We had to make it work.”
Vierling was an underrated cog in last year’s Tigers run to their first winning season since 2016 and first postseason series win since 2013. His 3.0 wins above replacement (per Baseball Reference) was second only to Greene among Tigers position players, helped by career highs of 16 home runs, 57 RBIs and 80 runs scored.
Couple Vierling’s injury with Meadows’ right nerve issue and a lower back injury for Pérez, and the Tigers' outfield was depleted before the team could break camp. Detroit overcame it with help from Javier Báez, whose transition to center field has coincided with a career renaissance, and Justyn-Henry Malloy.
“What’s it been like? It’s sucked having to watch it, because I want to be a part of it,” Vierling admitted. “But I’m just so happy for everybody here, just knowing how much hard work everybody’s put in to get to this point. It seems like everything’s finally coming together, and we’re just building off what we did last year.”
All along, the Tigers expected Vierling to be back first among the bunch, which is why he was on the 10-day injured list for the past two months rather than the 60-day IL. While Vierling came to Comerica Park, Meadows and Pérez headed back to Toledo to resume their assignments with an eye towards returning soon, much to Hinch’s anticipation.
“We’re getting closer and closer to a very versatile team that we were hoping to have,” Hinch said. “Our guys have done a really good job to date, but adding Matty to the mix is a big upgrade.”