Detroit — Just as outfielder Kerry Carpenter and second baseman Gleyber Torres at last took significant steps toward starting rehab assignments, the news was more gloomy about shortstop/center fielder Javier Báez.
Out since April 28 with a right ankle sprain, the Tigers have suspended his rehab work and are sending him to see an ankle specialist.
“He needs further medical evaluation,” manager AJ Hinch said. “His ankle is not responding quickly and he’s not able to run full speed or do full baseball activities. We need to get to the bottom of this inflammation that he can’t quite seem to shake.”
Báez has been doing his rehab work in Lakeland and hasn’t been back with the team since he rolled his ankle on an awkward half-slide trying to avoid a tag at first base in Atlanta on April 28.
Carpenter (sprained left AC joint) and Torres (oblique) were both working on the field Tuesday. Carpenter caught a couple of fly balls during Tarik Skubal’s three-inning sim game. Torres did infield drills and hit in the cage.
“Both are doing really well,” Hinch said. “Gleyber swung in the cage and gave me the two-thumbs-up, so he was encouraged.”
Swinging the bat has been where Torres has felt the pain. He took three days off after his last cage work to let the oblique calm down. If he got through the session with no symptoms Tuesday, that’s a big step.
“We need to have him do that again (Wednesday),” Hinch said.
Carpenter has been doing full baseball work for a week now, intensifying his hitting work.
“There is real progress going on,” Hinch said. “The next step, hopefully, will be game competition for both.”
There is a chance Carpenter will hit, or at least stand in the box, during Justin Verlander’s scheduled sim game Wednesday.
Verlander, Hinch said, is expected to throw four or five innings and get to 65 or 70 pitches.
“I like that we are starting to talk about baseball,” Hinch said. “We’re talking about rehab assignments and competition. There is actual baseball stuff going on. I think all of us have had enough of medical jargon. Like I’ve been saying, there is a light at the end of the tunnel. Just sometimes the tunnel feels really long.
“These players are starting to feel encouraged and certainly I am encouraged. These are big contributors for us.”
Right-handed pitcher Ty Madden, who is out with a forearm bruise, threw 4.1 innings in his rehab start for Triple-A Toledo on Monday. He allowed four hits and a run with three walks and three strikeouts. He threw 70 pitches, 40 strikes.
Hinch said Madden will pitch again in five days, though he wasn’t sure if it would be with the Mud Hens or the Tigers. It’s possible that if he’s optioned back to Toledo, Madden would remain in the rotation. If he comes back to the Tigers, he could be a bullpen arm.
“It’s all guessing,” Hinch said. “Right now, we’re building him up as a starter. I’m just happy to have a rotation intact, to be honest. I don’t know what I’ll have in five days. Hopefully nothing happens between now and then and we will have a decision to make.”
Chris.McCosky@detroitnews.com
@cmccosky
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Tigers halt Javier Báez’s rehab to get further medical evaluation
Reporting by Chris McCosky, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
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