Kansas City's lineup, for what it's worth, isn't dead yet. Lane Thomas has been the best hitter on the roster over his last 10 games, and with the Aug. 3 trade deadline bearing down, both he and Starling Marte are the kind of rental bats that give the Royals a reason to still care about at-bats in late July even as the record says otherwise.
Bobby Witt Jr. is walking into this series as the reigning AL All-Star starter at short, which says everything about why Kansas City isn't blowing the whole thing up despite a 40-60 record. But he sat out Sunday with back tightness, and a lineup that just got no-hit-adjacent in a 2-19 blowout to San Diego can't really spare him.
Detroit's actually playing better ball lately, taking two of three from the Angels on the road, and A.J. Hinch's club still has real talent even in a lost-feeling season — Riley Greene, Dillon Dingler and rookie Kevin McGonigle all made the All-Star team out of Philadelphia this month. That's a lot of young building blocks for a team that's supposedly rebuilding on the fly.
Both rosters are banged up enough that health, not talent, decides Thursday's game at 6:40 PM ET. Detroit's infield is missing Javier Baez and Gleyber Torres, Kansas City's missing Maikel Garcia and Kyle Isbel, and the injury column below tells the rest of the story for a couple of teams just trying to get through August in one piece.
Call it a low-stakes Thursday between two teams staring at the trade deadline more than the standings — but Witt, Greene and a Tigers club that's found some late-July life still make it worth a look.