Hao-Yu

Lee

Lee returns to the minors with Gleyber Torres back from the injured list. The 23-year-old rookie hit .205 (17-for-83) with two homers and nine RBI in 32 games for Detroit during his first stint in the majors.

It’s officially time to be concerned as Torres’ absence stretches into the middle of the week. The 29-year-old second baseman has been dealing with left side tightness since last weekend, but there’s been no indication that he’ll require a trip to the injured list. Rookie Hao-Yu Lee will make another start at the keystone in his place on Tuesday night against Boston.

The encouraging sign here is that Torres has managed to avoid a trip to the injured list and appears poised to return to Detroit’s lineup relatively soon. The 29-year-old second baseman sat out Sunday’s game against the Rangers after an early exit the previous day due to left side tightness. Hao-Yu Lee draws another start at the keystone in his ongoing absence.

Tests came back negative, so Torres is day-to-day. The Tigers have Hao-Yu Lee at second base tonight.

It’s not great timing for Torres to get hurt, as the Tigers already have Zach McKinstry and Javier Báez on the IL. McKinstry, though, is almost ready to return. The Tigers can still mix and match Hao-Yu Lee and Jace Jung at second.

Jung was called up to replace Javier Baez (ankle) on Wednesday and started at designated hitter, going 0-for-2 with a walk. Jung will now head to the bench on Thursday with Colt Keith at DH and Hao-Yu Lee back in the lineup at third base and batting seventh.

The 23-year-old pinch-hit for Colt Keith with left-hander Sam Moll on the mound with a man on first base and the Tigers down by a run in the seventh inning. He turned that one-run deficit into a one-run lead as he walloped a 1-0 fastball for a 402-foot (105.8 mph EV) two-run shot for his first home run in the big leagues. He struck out in his only other plate appearance in the game. Lee is now hitting .211/.250/.421 with a homer and three RBI in his first 20 plate appearances with the Tigers.

Once again Keith finds himself on the bench with an opposing left-hander on the hill for the Reds. It’s the fourth time in the Tigers’ last six games that Keith has started the game on the bench with a lefty on the mound. He’ll undoubtedly come off the bench to face a right-hander at some point in the game. Hao-Yu Lee will draw a start at second base and will bat eighth while Gleyber Torres functions as the team’s designated hitter on Friday evening against Andrew Abbott and the Reds in Cincinnati.

Torkelson is hitting just .182/.333/.227 in 81 plate appearances this season. It’s nice that he’s walking more, and that’s clearly part of his plan since his overall swing rate has dropped eight percent; however, Torkelson is also taking far more called strikes, and his strikeout rate is actually up from last season. His hard-hit rate is still in line with what he produced last year, and his swinging strike rate is better, so the first baseman may need to simply tweak his approach to stop being as passive as he has been. Colt Keith will play first base and hit third on Monday with Hao-Yu Lee at third base and batting eighth.

The 23-year-old infielder will get his first chance to show what he can do at the Major League level with Zach McKinstry (hip) landing on the injured list on Friday. Lee will start at third base and bat eighth in his MLB debut against Red Sox’ left-hander Ranger Suarez on Friday evening in Boston. Lee was hitting just .194/.231/.278 with a homer and seven RBI in his first nine minor league contests to open the 2026 campaign.