Will Vest records second save vs. Yankees Monday

Vest last pitched on June 27th and allowed three runs (two earned) on four hits in one inning. He clearly wasn’t right during that outing, and now we know why. He will undergo further imaging to determine how long he will be sidelined.

It wasn’t the smoothest of frames, as he allowed a leadoff single to Josh Naylor before picking him off for the first out of the inning. He then plunked Randy Arozarena before Dillon Dingler picked him off of first base. Vest then took care of Luke Raley on strikes to end the inning and became the beneficiary when the Tigers scored twice to walk it off in the home half of the inning. Vest continues to operate as the Tigers’ closer while Kenley Jansen is sidelined.

There’s a lot to unpack here. Kyle Finnegan came on to put out a sixth-inning fire and recorded four outs earlier in the contest while Detroit was leading by four runs. Vest was summoned to get the final two out of the eighth inning before coming back out to toss a perfect ninth for his first save of the year. It seems like Kyle Finnegan will be Detroit’s preferred closing option while Kenley Jansen (groin) is on the injured list, but it wouldn’t be surprising if Vest got a few chances as well.

Vest was brought in to get out of the seventh inning and he did just that, retiring Jorge Soler and Wade Meckler in order to end the inning. Vest even got two of the first three batters out in the eighth inning before things went off the rails. A double by Logan O’Hoppe drove in a run, cutting the Tigers lead to a single run. Zach Neto singled on the ninth pitch the at-bat before Mike Trout walked on six pitches. With Vest now over 30 pitches, he was inexplicably allowed to face Vaughn Grissom with the bases loaded. Grissom’s grand slam was just his third home run in his last 206 at-bats. Vest’s blown save was his third, the loss was his second and his ERA sits at 7.88.

This wound up being a strange situation because Tigers manager A.J. Hinch opted to use closer Kenley Jansen against the heart of Cleveland’s lineup to protect a one-run lead in the eighth inning before giving the ball to Vest to face the bottom of the order. That gambit backfired as Vest surrendered back-to-back singles to Daniel Schneemann and Travis Bazzana before Patrick Bailey delivered a game-tying ground out a couple batters later. He managed to strike out Brayan Rocchio to preserve a tie ballgame, but the damage was already done. Cleveland went on to score a couple runs in extra-innings and close out a comeback win.

Vest will rejoin the Tigers’ bullpen on Sunday after missing a couple of weeks due to inflammation in his forearm. Before he was shelved, Vest posted an unsightly 6.17 ERA, 1.46 WHIP and a 13/6 K/BB ratio over 11 2/3 innings of work. Ty Madden (forearm) was placed on the injured list in a corresponding move on Sunday.

Vest tossed a perfect inning on Friday in a minor league rehab appearance for Triple-A Toledo. The Tigers apparently saw enough that they’re ready to bring him back, likely for Sunday’s series finale against the Blue Jays. The 30-year-old righty reliever hit the shelf with forearm inflammation back on May 2. He’ll operate in a setup capacity for Detroit.

The 30-year-old right-hander has been shelved since May 2 due to right forearm inflammation. The Tigers’ bullpen has been in shambles lately, so a return to health from Vest would go a long way toward stabilizing things at the back end for the slumping Tigers.

There is no timetable for Vest to return at the moment. The 30-year-old high-leverage arm hits the shelf after Tigers manager A.J. Hinch told reporters Friday that he’s been pitching through an injury. He’s struggled to an inflated 6.17 ERA across 11 2/3 innings of work this season.

That explains why Vest hasn’t appeared in a game since Sunday. It doesn’t sound like there are any plans to move him to the injured list at this time, so expect him to return at some point during their weekend series against the Rangers.