The Detroit Tigers will be without Andy Dirks for three months because of a back problem that requires surgery.

"My understanding is a piece of the disk tore away from the whole of the disk," Brad Ausmus said. "They're just going to go in and remove that piece and clean up the area on the disk where it had come off."

Dirks was expected to share the left field spot with Rajai Davis, whom the Tigers signed in the offseason.