The Detroit Tigers won't play without two healthy catchers.

The good news is catcher Carson Kelly is healthy enough to play Saturday after getting scratched from Friday's starting lineup with left ribcage soreness and being unavailable for the series opener against the Kansas City Royals.

Kelly isn't starting Saturday's game, but he's available.

"I'm going to stay away from him if I can," manager A.J. Hinch said, "but I can play him today if something happens or I want to make a move. He's very available. Medicine is a beautiful thing."

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The fact that Kelly is available, even though Jake Rogers is starting, means the Tigers aren't promoting a catcher from Triple-A Toledo. There are two catchers on the Triple-A roster: Dillon Dingler and Anthony Bemboom.

Kelly is hitting .205 with one home run, two walks and nine strikeouts in 17 games, spanning 46 plate appearances. Rogers is hitting .125 with one home run, three walks and 20 strikeouts in 17 games, spanning 53 plate appearances.

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It's been an even split behind the plate, with Kelly catching 119 innings and Rogers catching 118⅓ innings. The ribcage issue is something Kelly has been managing for an unknown period of time.

"He's done a little bit of work," Hinch said. "He'll be out and about doing his thing. We got our third-catcher guys some work today, and maybe that motivated him. I'm kidding. They all want to catch until it actually became a reality yesterday, and then I couldn't find anybody to put the gear on."

Andy Ibáñez update

Infielder Andy Ibáñez (left hamstring strain) began his ongoing rehab assignment Thursday with Triple-A Toledo. Ibáñez has three hits — including two doubles — in six plate appearances through two games.

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He played his first game as the designated hitter and his second game as the third baseman. Ibáñez worked out in Detroit instead of playing Saturday's game in Toledo, but he will return to the Mud Hens' lineup Sunday as the second baseman.

The Tigers hope to activate Ibáñez from the injured list, where he has been since the second week of April, for Monday's three-game series opener against the St. Louis Cardinals at Comerica Park.

Before the injury, Ibáñez hit .267 with zero walks and six strikeouts in seven games, spanning 17 plate appearances. Twelve of the 17 plate appearances were against left-handed pitchers.

Mark Canha's arm

Mark Canha, a 35-year-old in his 10th season, has been the designated hitter for the past three games. He hasn't played in the outfield since Tuesday, but even more notable, he has played just one of his past seven games in the outfield.

That's because Canha is dealing with a sore throwing arm.

"I'm going to try to give him a couple days," Hinch said. "I may even DH him tomorrow. He or Riley (Greene) will DH tomorrow. I'll catch up with him. He's going to throw today. I don't see it as a concern, but I'm going to give him an extra day."

Canha is hitting .271 with five home runs, 13 walks and 19 strikeouts in 25 games, spanning 103 plate appearances. He has already started seven of his games as the designated hitter while also starting six games in left field, three games in right field and two games at first base.

Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him @EvanPetzold.

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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Here's how close Detroit Tigers INF Andy Ibáñez is to returning