CLEVELAND – The Detroit Tigers are bolstering their bullpen with a birthday boy.
The Tigers have activated reliever Brant Hurter from the 60-day injured list and optioned starter Andrew Sears to Triple-A Toledo before the final of a four-game series against the Cleveland Guardians in Progressive Field on Sunday, Sept. 6.
Hurter, who turned 29 on Sunday, has been out with lumbar spine inflammation since May.
“He's going to be active and in our pen, so we get a ninth reliever, which we haven't had actually since we've had the six man,” Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said pregame.
In addition, Tigers infielder Matt Vierling, who has been out with a left adductor strain and left heel inflammation, was placed on the 60-day injured list, ending his season.
The decision to option Sears is no indication of how the Tigers feel about him. Sears was fantastic on Friday, pitching 5⅔ innings, recording four strikeouts, limiting the Guardians to just one run while walking just two. It was his second-longest outing of his professional career since being drafted in the 10th round out of Connecticut in 2023.
Sears is expected to return to pitch for the Tigers before the end of this season.
“We still have time this season, so I would expect him to get another opportunity,” Hinch said. “But given where we're at in the year, obviously we pushed it pretty hard the other day. We need an extra reliever with the bullpen being pretty taxed.”
Hurter has appeared in eight games for Toledo, throwing 7⅓ innings, striking out eight with six walks.
“He threw a ton of strikes in his last outing, which you know really prompted us to give him this opportunity and give him the test,” Hinch said. “The strike throwing is really going to be the key for him, and I think the level change will probably give him a little bit of a boost to give him an extra tick or two."
What was Hinch’s message to Sears?
“I just encouraged him that it's just part of being a young pitcher, and we're in September, there are different decisions for different reasons, and just to stay positive, get his work in, and we do have time,” Hinch said. “He took the news as a pro and I'm hoping we see him again.”
Jack Flaherty inching back to Detroit
Jack Flaherty is scheduled to make a rehab outing for Triple-A Toledo on Sunday in Toledo (6:05 p.m.), although he is not expected to take on a big workload.
“I was watching him pitch,” Hinch said Sunday. “I was encouraged the velocity was at a standard level. He had no reservations in the spin. He had that little competitive edge, which always tells me when a pitcher is starting to turn the corner on his rehab.”
The Tigers don’t have time to build him up but they could use Flaherty in creative ways, at a time when several pitchers have the potential to return, including Flaherty, Justin Verlander and River Ryan, who the Tigers got from the Los Angeles Dodgers in the Tarik Skubal trade.
“Obviously, we're hopeful on Jack,” Hinch said. “We're hopeful on JV. We're hopeful on River Ryan. You know, Sears is still in the mix.”
Contact Jeff Seidel: jseidel@freepress.com. Follow him on X @seideljeff
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Tigers call up a birthday boy and send down a starting pitcher
