Tigers to skip RHP Jack Flaherty after second injection for back pain

The Detroit Tigers have scratched right-hander Jack Flaherty from his scheduled start Wednesday at the Minnesota Twins after his second pain-killing injection for his ailing back, the team announced Tuesday.

Flaherty is dealing with low back tightness, the team said, and he will take a short rest before expecting to play catch later in the week. After two missed starts in the past month, he could next start a game against the Cleveland Guardians, who visit Detroit on July 8-11.

Rookie right-hander Keider Montero is slated to start in Flaherty's place on Wednesday. Montero, who will turn 24 on Saturday, is 0-2 with a 9.35 ERA in 8 2/3 innings over two games (one start).

Flaherty, 28, is 5-5 with a 3.24 ERA, 14 walks and 115 strikeouts in 89 innings over 15 starts in his first season in Detroit after signing a one-year, $14 million contract.

A first-round draft pick by the St. Louis Cardinals in 2014, Flaherty has a career record of 47-39 with a 3.69 ERA, 268 walks and 863 strikeouts in 756 2/3 innings over 146 games (140 starts). He has played for the Cardinals (2017-23), Baltimore Orioles (2023) and Tigers.

In other Tigers news, shortstop Javier Baez (lumbar spine inflammation) is scheduled to start a rehabilitation assignment Tuesday with Triple-A Toledo. He is expected to be the designated hitter on Tuesday and take the field at shortstop on Wednesday.

Baez, 31, has not played since June 8. He is batting .183 with one home run and 25 RBIs in 53 games this season. The two-time All-Star is a career .252 hitter with 176 homers and 616 RBIs in 1,195 games for the Chicago Cubs (2014-21), New York Mets (2021) and Tigers.

--Field Level Media