Colt Keith scratched from Tigers lineup, Hao-Yu Lee to start vs Jays

TORONTO – The Detroit Tigers made a late change to their lineup before playing the Toronto Blue Jays on Monday, Sept.14.

Colt Keith was scratched from the starting lineup and replaced by Hao-Yu Lee, who will play third and bat ninth.

“We scratched Colt Keith with left thumb soreness,” Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said. “[On Sunday], when he hit the fence and got kind of twisted in the net on the foul ball, it came up a little bit sore and a little bit swelled today. So we’ll get him treatment all day and use him off the bench as opposed to start him.”

Keith will be considered day to day.

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Now, the lineup for the first game of this three-game series will include:

1. Kevin McGonigle at short.

2. Gleyber Torres at second.

3. Riley Greene at DH.

4. Dillon Dingler at catcher.

5. Brett Callahan in left.

6. Max Clark in center.

7. Spencer Torkelson at first base.

8. Zach McKinstry in right field.

9. Hao-Yu Lee at third base

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The Tigers activated Keider Montero off the paternity list on Monday and right-hand pitcher Yilber Diaz was optioned to Triple-A Toledo.

“Montero made it back,” Hinch said. “New father and well-traveled, and he made it back. He’s going to start on Wednesday here for us.”

Diaz pitched 1⅔ innings on Sunday in an 8-1 victory over the Colorado Rockies. He struck out two and allowed one hit.

“He’ll report in the next day or so, get some action in Triple A,” Hinch said. “Obviously happy to get to get Keider back and excited for his family, but also try to still get something out of Diaz for the rest of the year. Yesterday, he got to pitch a little bit, which was nice to see. Faced a bunch of lefties, which is unusual, but he was able to get a lot of outs and just told him to keep on plugging and trying to fill the strike zone, and you’ll have an opportunity to hopefully pitch at this level again.”

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Before the game, Hinch was asked who should be the American League Rookie of the Year and he answered without hesitation.

“It’s Kevin McGonigle, full stop,” he told Toronto reporters. “Obviously I’m a little biased to that because I’ve watched him firsthand be the best rookie wire to wire from the beginning of the season to now. I think he’s been the most consistent. Has accumulated as much performance as any player.”

Yes, he has taken his case international.

“I see him as the Rookie of the Year and a lot of close seconds,” Hinch said.

McGonigle entered Monday boasting a 6.3 WAR (per Baseball Reference) this season, the best mark by any MLB rookie and tied with Bobby Witt Jr. for third among position players overall, behind only Chicaog Cubs outfielder Pete Crow-Armstrong (9.1 bWAR) and Milwaukee Brewers infielder Bryce Turang (6.7 bWAR).

Contact Jeff Seidel: jseidel@freepress.com. Follow him on X @seideljeff

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Colt Keith scratched from Tigers lineup, Hao-Yu Lee to start vs Jays