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Detroit Tigers shortstop Javier Baez will undergo season-ending surgery on his right hip after struggling through another poor campaign.

The Tigers are still determining when and where the surgery will take place.

Baez batted just .184 with six homers and 37 RBIs in 80 games this season, his third with the Tigers.

“We’ve got to get him right,” Detroit manager A.J. Hinch told reporters prior to Monday’s game against the Chicago White Sox. “It’ll be a long process, but hopefully it’ll be a successful one.”

Baez, 31, has three seasons remaining on a six-year, $140 million deal with the Tigers.

He has been a disappointment with Detroit with a .221/.262/.347 slash line in 360 games. He has 32 homers and 163 RBIs while striking out 341 times.

Baez was placed on the 10-day injured list on Friday due to spine and hip soreness, then was transferred to the 60-day IL on Monday.

“Getting him healthy is the No. 1 priority, for his own health,” said Hinch, “and obviously, to get the best player out of him, we need him healthy. It’s no doubt that it’s been a really tough stretch for him in his career and a really tough stretch as a Tiger, but it doesn’t mean that it can’t change. I hope for him — and for us — that this does bring some clarity, get him back to good health and gets him back to performing the way that he can and will.”

Baez was a two-time All-Star in seven-plus seasons with the Chicago Cubs (2014-21). He was runner-up for the National League MVP Award in 2018, when he established career bests of 34 homers and 111 RBIs.

He was MVP of the 2016 National League Championship Series as the Cubs defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers in six games. Chicago went on to beat Cleveland in seven games to win the franchise’s first World Series crown since 1908.

The Cubs dealt Baez to the New York Mets at the trade deadline in 2021. After 47 games with the Mets, he departed as a free agent and signed with Detroit.

Baez has a .251 career average with 181 homers, 628 RBIs and 110 steals in 11 big league seasons.

Also Monday, Detroit promoted right-hander Ty Madden, who made his major league debut against the White Sox. The move involving Baez opened a 40-man roster spot for Madden.

Madden, 24, was a first-round pick (No. 32 overall) in the 2021 draft. He was 3-5 with a 7.97 ERA in 18 starts at Triple-A Toledo after opening the season with a 2.55 ERA and four no-decisions at Double-A Erie.

Information from Field Level Media was used in this report.

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Foligno takes puck off hand, will miss 4 weeks

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Foligno takes puck off hand, will miss 4 weeks

Chicago Blackhawks captain Nick Foligno will miss four weeks after injuring his hand Saturday in his team’s 3-2 win against the Toronto Maple Leafs, coach Jeff Blashill said.

Foligno, 38, suffered the injury with 90 seconds left in the second period when he was skating near the top of the Blackhawks’ defensive zone and Jake McCabe‘s shot on net deflected off Foligno’s hand.

Foligno immediately hunched over and favored his hand while skating back to the Blackhawks’ bench. Foligno, who did not return for the third period, finished with three shots on goal and logged 10:41 in ice time.

The absence of Foligno, who has six points in 15 games, means the Blackhawks will be without their fourth-line center who was anchoring a combination featuring Sam Lafferty and Landon Slaggert. His injury is also the second to impact the Blackhawks’ forward group with winger Jason Dickinson currently on injured reserve.

After finishing last season with the second-fewest points in the NHL, the Blackhawks (9-5-4) have emerged into one of the biggest surprises through the first quarter of the regular season. With their win against the Maple Leafs, they enter Sunday third in the Central Division and a point ahead of the Vegas Golden Knights and Seattle Kraken in the Western Conference wild-card race.

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Devils’ Hughes out 8 weeks after finger surgery

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Devils' Hughes out 8 weeks after finger surgery

New Jersey Devils star Jack Hughes had successful surgery on his finger Saturday, the team announced. The expected recovery time is eight weeks, though he will be reevaluated in six weeks.

According to sources, Hughes injured his hand in a “freak accident” that involved getting cut by glass at a team dinner Thursday.

Hughes’ procedure was performed by Dr. Robert Hotchkiss at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York City.

The 24-year-old was off to a terrific start for New Jersey, which is 12-4-1 and atop the Metropolitan Division entering Friday. The American-born star has 10 goals and 20 points in his first 17 games.

The injury will create an interesting predicament for Team USA ahead of the 2026 Olympics in Milan. Hughes’ brother, Quinn, has already been named to the team while the Devils star was expected to be a front-runner for the roster. Federations must submit rosters by Dec. 31. The Devils’ projected return-to-play timeline is around the second week of January. The Olympic men’s hockey tournament begins Feb. 11.

Olympic rosters feature 25 players, which is two more spots than teams had at Four Nations.

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Canucks sign ex-Leaf Kampf to one-year deal

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Canucks sign ex-Leaf Kampf to one-year deal

Center David Kampf signed a one-year contract with the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday, just a day after the Toronto Maple Leafs terminated his previous deal.

Kampf, whose deal with the Canucks will carry a $1.1 million cap hit, was entering the third year of his four-year contract with the Maple Leafs that was worth $2.4 million annually.

The Leafs waived Kampf before the season, and he began the year with their AHL affiliate. Kampf played four games in the AHL before taking a voluntary leave of absence, which wasn’t sanctioned by the Leafs, to evaluate his options.

Kampf, who scored 5 goals and 13 points in 59 games last season, gives the Canucks a two-way center who has logged more than 110 short-handed minutes in seven straight seasons.

The Canucks have faced defensive challenges under first-year coach Adam Foote, who already has had to navigate injuries to Filip Chytil, Thatcher Demko, Derek Forbort, Filip Hronek and Quinn Hughes, among others.

Entering Saturday, the Canucks were allowing 3.53 goals per game, which is the fifth most in the NHL, while their penalty kill is the worst in the league at 66.1%. The Los Angeles Kings set the NHL record for the worst penalty kill in league history with a 68.2% success rate in the 1979-80 campaign.

Kampf also provides a veteran presence at center for the Canucks, who entered the season with questions at the position. Those concerns have intensified with Teddy Blueger and Chytil on injured reserve.

Entering Saturday, the Canucks (8-9-2) had the second-fewest points in the Pacific Division but were two points behind the Chicago Blackhawks and Winnipeg Jets for Western Conference wild-card spots.

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