Detroit manager A.J. Hinch confirmed that Turnbull (COVID-19 injured list) will be piggybacked by Tarik Skubal in his first start of the season Wednesday against the Pirates, Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press reports. "[Turnbull is] not built up all the way to that five-to-six innings, 75-to-85 pitch count, so we'll see what he can give us," Hinch said.
Turnbull was placed on the IL prior to Opening Day after testing positive for COVID-19 in mid-March. Though he's since recovered from the virus, the Tigers plan to ease him back into the mix in his 2021 debut, so Skubal stands to cover the bulk of the innings in Wednesday's game. Hinch suggested that Detroit could eventually deploy a six-man rotation that includes Skubal, so this may be a one-time situation for Turnbull, depending on how quickly he's able to build up to a normal workload.