The Tigers will be without one of their late-game relievers for the rest of the season. Righty Will Vest underwent surgery to address a stress fracture in his elbow this week, the team informed reporters (including Cody Stavenhagen of The Athletic). Vest will also undergo a future operation on his hip.
It concludes a frustrating season for the 31-year-old righty. Vest had multiple injured list stints and allowed an ugly 6.08 earned run average across 26 2/3 innings. His 95.8 mph average fastball velocity, while still solid, was down a tick from last season. Vest never seemed fully healthy, a tough blow for a team that relied upon him heavily over the previous three years.
Vest combined for a 2.93 ERA while striking out a quarter of opponents in nearly 200 innings between 2023-25. He recorded 23 saves last year and has been a key high-leverage piece for a few seasons. Vest was ticketed for a setup role alongside Kyle Finnegan in front of Kenley Jansen this year.
Detroit pummeled the A’s tonight despite scratching Casey Mize to preserve his health before Monday’s deadline. They haven’t announced themselves as sellers but may be headed for a teardown that sees Tarik Skubal, Mize, Gleyber Torres and potentially Drew Anderson, Jansen and Finnegan all heading elsewhere. They’re six games below .500 at 52-58, putting them fourth in the AL Central and 6.5 back of the White Sox. They’re only 3.5 out in the Wild Card race but need to jump five teams along the way.
A healthy Vest would’ve been a trade candidate himself, if not a key contributor for a potential long shot playoff push. Detroit can control him for one more season on what’d be a similar sum to this year’s $3.95MM arbitration salary.
