To say it's been a tough week in Motown would be a considerable understatement. Since the beginning of the work week, the Detroit Tigers announced that ace Tarik Skubal would need elbow surgery , Triple-A manager Gabe Alvarez was fired for a "violation of club policy ," and star free agent acquisition Framber Valdez was suspended five games and chastised by manager A.J. Hinch for throwing at Boston Red Sox shortstop Trevor Story. All the while, the Tigers have stumbled to a 3-6 record in their past nine games as they await the returns of not just Skubal and Valdez, but also Casey Mize, Javier Báez, Gleyber Torres, Justin Verlander, Will Vest, and others. Things have even been bleak around the team, with the organization mourning the loss of longtime sports media personality Pat Caputo. All, however, is not lost. Heck, there are even signs of optimism if you look closely enough. Skubal had successful surgery and was given an "insanely optimistic" return timeline of 4-6 weeks.…