Report: Tigers' Sanchez to be activated Tuesday, pitch out of bullpen

The Detroit Tigers are set to get a key piece of their pitching staff back as they look to lock up their fourth consecutive AL Central title. 

Right-handed starter Anibal Sanchez, who's been out since early August with a right pectoral strain, will be activated by the club on Tuesday, MLB.com's Jason Beck reports.  

Per Beck, the Tigers plan to ease Sanchez back into action by pitching him out of the bullpen, presumably for the remainder of the regular season. So long as he shows no lingering effects of the injury, by the time the playoffs roll around, he should be back in the starting rotation. 

In 21 starts and 125 innings of work this season, Sanchez owns the best FIP (2.71), WHIP (1.096) home run rate (0.8 percent), and opponents' OPS (.600) among all Tigers starters.