The Detroit Tigers are short on pitchers right now as Reese Olson is currently out with a finger injury, and Jackson Jobe is done for the season as he will undergo Tommy John surgery. After the Jobe news, it became even more important for the Tigers to get Olson back as soon as possible. He recently began his rehab assignment in the minors as he pitched 2 2/3 innings for the Toledo Mud Hens on Saturday. It was a step in the right direction toward coming back to Detroit.

One of the biggest things that the Tigers need to see from Reese Olson before he returns is getting his endurance up. Tigers manager AJ Hinch thinks that Saturday's outing for the Mud Hens has Olson trending in that direction.

“He didn’t throw any changeups, and that was by design,” Tigers manager AJ Hinch said, according to an article from MLB.com. “One of the things we need to do is keep his endurance up, so getting his pitch [count] up to the 40s and 50s was important. The three [times getting up] was important. He feels good with his other pitches. But even at the end of the outing, you could see a little bit of why we need to keep his endurance up. …It was a good step forward for him. It was close to exactly what we wanted.”

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In those 2 2/3 innings of work, Olson gave up two runs on two hits while striking out four batters. It wasn't perfect, but it was his first appearance on the mound in a while. He is down in the minors to work on things and get back to 100%, and he took a good step in that first outing.

It's unclear when exactly the Tigers will get Reese Olson back to Detroit, but it doesn't seem like it will be too long. Getting him back into the rotation will be huge because of the other injuries that the team is experiencing, but the Tigers will still probably look to add another arm ahead of the trade deadline. Detroit has been one of the best teams in baseball so far this season, and the team is looking to gear up for a deep postseason run.