While the focus on Tuesday was how left-hander Tarik Skubal felt after his bullpen session as he is set to pitch in one of the biggest series of the season, outfielder Matt Vierling experience yet another setback with his injured left oblique. 

 "Matty’s still feeling similar soreness, so he’s still getting evaluated again. I’ll stop short of saying it’s a setback, because I don’t know that yet. But it clearly slowed down our plan with him. He's pretty bummed about it, and he should be. We are, too." 

Vierling has been limited to 31 games this season after missing the start of the season with a right shoulder injury.  His utility role was clutch down the stretch last season, hitting .257/.312/.423 with 16 home runs and 57 RBI, finishing with a 3.0 bWAR season. With Toledo's season ending this week, he may have to head to Lakeland to get some rehab work done.

Tarik Skubal is ready to clinch the AL Central

Skubal seemed like his normal self when speaking to the media on Tuesday as he explained what happened in Miami. 

“It's one of those weird things,” Skubal said, referring to the discomfort he felt on Friday. “I don't really know how to explain it. But (yesterday's) bullpen went well, the scans came back good. So it's on to the next one.”

On yesterday's bullpen: "Normal working pen. If anything, I probably worked a little bit harder just to make sure that I was good to go. There was nothing there. It was all good."

On the potential that the Tigers could clinch the AL Central as soon as Thursday:

“I think it’s fun to clinch at home in front of your fans. The only bad part is celebrating in your own clubhouse, because it tends to get a little destroyed.”

Bullpen Help on the Way

Right-hander Kyle Finnegan according to Hinch, had a good bullpen session and is likely to start a rehab assignment but Hinch said the team has not solidified that yet. Paul Sewald, who has yet to make his Tigers debut, is set to pitch for Triple-A Toledo down in Iowa on Tuesday night.  

Hinch had to make the tough decision to send down Brenan Hanifee in favor of left-hander Brant Hurter as Cleveland is lefty-heavy and the Guardians have struggled against lefties all season. 

"Yeah, that's a bad luck and some bad circumstance for him. You know, he's still very much a part of this, and he was doing everything that we had asked.  Hinch said. "But clearly kind of the opposite of the need against this type of lineup where the outings were going to be probably few and far between in these, three days, and we played them again next week. He became the odd man out, but he's going to factor in as soon as possible, and he took the news like a pro but man, I did not like deliver that news to him based on the production that you were getting with the opportunity we were giving.  

And lastly, over the weekend, right-hander José Urquidy threw for the first time in two years against the Marlins. The Tigers are likely to use him in multiple inning relief the rest of the season as Detroit looks to have their bullpen back to full strength.