Boston — Not a bad place for big-league debut.
The Tigers on Friday placed Zach McKinstry on the 10-day injured list and called up infield prospect Hao-Yu Lee from Triple-A Toledo. He was in the lineup against the Red Sox, batting eighth at Fenway Park.
“We’re excited for Lee to get his feet wet in the big leagues,” manager AJ Hinch said. “He’s a good player. We’ve had him in big league camp the last two years. He hits the ball hard and can play good defense. Now he’s getting his first look at one of the cathedrals in our sport for his debut.”
Part of the decision to call up Lee, and not Jace Jung or Trei Cruz, Hinch said, was where the Tigers are in the schedule. Including Friday against Ranger Suarez, the Tigers will be facing six lefties in the next 12 games.
The right-handed hitting Lee slugged .558 with a .969 OPS against lefties last season.
Coming off an oblique injury this spring, which kept him from playing for Chinese Taipei in the WBC, he’s off to a slow start at Toledo (4 for 26).
“He’s been swinging it better than his numbers indicate,” Hinch said. “Results are so finicky this time of year. He’s coming off a good day (Wednesday). He hit a home run. So it’s good timing for that. He’s been hitting it hard and making good decisions on what to swing at.
“And that is key in transitioning from Triple-A to the big leagues.”
McKinstry exited Wednesday night’s game against the Royals ahead of the eighth inning of the Tigers’ 2-1 victory. He fell hard on the hip twice. Once on a head-first slide at the plate and the other after he was tripped up by Royals’ Jac Caglianone.
“He’s pretty beat up,” Hinch said. “We didn’t want to play short-handed, but we’re also hoping to get him back quickly.”
McKinstry stayed back in Detroit and is expected to undergo further evaluations.
“He was doing better today than he was yesterday,” Hinch said. “But he clearly needed a break to heal up.”
Lee, 23, was not made available to the media until after the game. He is No. 6 among the Tigers’ top 30 prospects, according to MLB Pipeline, and was acquired by the Tigers in an August 2023 trade that sent starting pitcher Michael Lorenzen to the Philadelphia Phillies.
Around the horn
Justin Verlander (hip inflammation) did not make the trip to Boston. “We have to respect the soreness and inflammation that he’s dealing with,” Hinch said. “He’s working out, and he’s doing everything. It’s just going a little bit slower. We’re going to respect it and give him the time he needs.”
… Lefty reliever Bailey Horn (elbow), who has had his throwing program paused, received a cortisone shot Thursday.
Chris.McCosky@detroitnews.com
@cmccosky
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Detroit Tigers call up prospect Hao-Yu Lee, place Zach McKinstry on IL
Reporting by Chris McCosky, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
