Before tonight's game, manager Brad Ausmus announced injured left fielder Andy Dirks has begun taking live batting practice swings. Barring any setbacks, Dirks will be given an injury rehab assignment within the next week to ten days.
"Probably, unless there’s some sort of setback. I don’t have a date, not in terms of a rehab. I’m sure it’ll be within the next week to 10 days. But there’s no date, as of now."
According to trainer Kevin Rand, Dirks has begun taking swings in inter-squad games and will participate in at least two more scrimmages before starting his minor league rehab assignment.
Expected to be the left-handed side of a platoon with Rajai Davis, Dirks has been sidelined since early March due to a back injury. The 28-year-old outfielder underwent a microdiscectomy on March 10, and was placed on the 60-day disabled list.
At the time, the Tigers announced Dirks would be sidelined for 12 weeks. That turned out to be too ambitious. Dirks didn't start any baseball related activities until the second week of May, then started swinging a bat two weeks later.
Once he completes his rehab assignment, it will be closer to 16 weeks post-surgery before Dirks rejoins the Tigers' roster.