Joel Zumaya has been placed on the 15 day disabled list. It appears that he dislocated a finger on his throwing hand while warming up. Aquilino Lopez had a very short sojurn with Toledo and has been recalled.
Unlike the Jose Mesa injury, this one is going to sting. Fortunately, Fernando Rodney seems to have corrected his earlier problems. This will mean more high leverage situations for both lefties, Wil Ledezma and Bobby Seay, as well as Jose Mesa. I’d anticipate seeing Jim Leyland playing the platoon advantages more often now without Zumaya available to shut down the 8th inning.
I think we’ll be fine. Seay stepped up today. Hopefully Mesa will be more effective with his injury behind him as well. Leyland’s the master of the bullpen.
That said, get well soon Joel!
It’s good to see positive feedback on this site…it seems as if every blog (freep, Mlive, DetNews) is SOOOOOOO negative about the Tigers this year – I don’t think we tigers’ fans should be this greedy so soon. Last year was a gift from heaven that no one expected. The fact that we have competed at such a high level with the comp in the Central (now currently a 1/2 game behind CLE for 1st) is very encouraging. Expect the tigers to become completely healthy come July!! We keep up the wins and stay close to top of the Central we will be sitting pretty for the Fall. Great site whoever runs this!!
GO PISTONS!!!
GO RED WINGS!!
A “dislocated finger on his throwing hand”?!? What the heck is that? I’ve never heard of such a thing. Has anyone heard “more” to this story?
And the Legend of Sid Finch goes on. I have never seen a guy dislocate a middle finger on a warm-up pitch???
He is awesome, but I have a feeling when we one day look back on these good Tiger teams, he will be but a shooting star.
Guitar Hero, Awful Mechanics, Dislocated middle finger on a warmup pitch, tattoos all over the place, 104 mph fastballs, enjoy the ride guys, because I don’t think it will be a long one.
-Sam
Sam, I was just thinking the same thing this morning. I’ve been thinking about “the Bird” – sometimes a guy is just a personality type that you can’t settle down for the long haul. I hope I’m wrong but I’m afraid of a quick flameout. That being said, I think the bullpen will step up.
Actually I am sort of relieved that an injury has been discovered. It makes the control issues Joel has been having seem more a physical problem that a mental one. As it is with only a finger, while he might miss a few weeks, it is a lot better than shoulder or elbow problems, which I had originally feared.
Makes me glad that Leyland didn’t lose his head and snag Ledezma out of the bullpen to replace Durbin.
You can disloate your finger with overuse by holding your finger in a certain awkward position.My guess is that Zoom is trying to perfect a pitch he’s not used to throwing. I think he would be better off throwing off speed fastballs with a few curve balls mixed in and keep them guessing about the 102 mph heater.
Regarding the Fidrych/Zumaya comparisons- One would think that Fidrych’s flaming out had more to do with his undiagnosed rotator cuff injury than with his colorful personality. I’d be less worried about Zumaya’s tattoos than about his finger.
The Bird also pitched 24 complete games (out of 29 starts) his rookie season, I’m sure that played a part in the rotator cuff problems
This will turn out to be a blessing for the Tigers, Zoom will return with a fresh arm and the rest of the bullpen can wear their arms out early. When Rogers returns that’ll help the bullpen even more because Durbin, like Ledezma, is a one time through the lineup pitcher.
Did you even watch today’s game, Andy? Or any game ever? Or even ever heard of baseball?
Haha. Sorry, but your crazy prediction made me laugh.