Javier Báez will be out a little longer.
The Tigers veteran, who has been sidelined with a high ankle sprain since late April, has been shut down from baseball activities after seeing a specialist on Monday.
“Javy is going to need some time off,” manager A.J. Hinch told reporters Tuesday. “He’s just not progressing very quickly, and right now rest is still part of the equation.”
“We were starting to ramp him up and the symptoms were still there,” he continued. “High ankle sprains are really hard to deal with. Sometimes the symptoms linger longer than if he had broken it. But he’s not cleared for full activity. The specialist said the path we are on is good, it’s just slow.”
The former Met rolled his ankle after an awkward slide into first base and was carted off the field on April 28.
Before going down with the ankle sprain, Báez was hitting .256 with a .670 OPS through 78 at-bats while appearing at center field, shortstop and second base for Detroit.
The injury adds to what has been a disappointing Tigers tenure for the three-time All-Star.
After starring for the Cubs and a brief stint in Queens through the 2021 season, having once finished second in the National League MVP voting, Baez signed a six-year, $140 million contract with Detroit before the 2022 season.
In five seasons since, Báez has hit just .230/.268/.361 over 510 games, though he did make the All-Star Game last year.
Báez’s stalled recovery gives Detroit another problem in a season already filled with them.
After making the postseason in each of the past two seasons, the Tigers sit at 23-38 and in last place in the American League Central heading into Tuesday’s play.
Back-to-back reigning AL Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal, along with Casey Mize and Gleyber Torres, among others, have also spent time on the injured list this season.
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