Jason Beck is reporting that Placido Polanco said he is done for the year. But Jason also points out that the training staff said there has been no decision made. As recently as a couple days ago there was speculation that Polanco may be back for the White Sox series, so this is a peculiar turn of events. It’s entirely possible he aggravated the shoulder. It also seem plausible that he may have required surgery from the beginning, but they tried the rehab route given the pennant race and all.
The conflicting reports aside, this is of course terrible news. As I mentioned earlier, the Tigers have actually gotten more production from the 2nd base position since Polanco’s injury than before it. However, the chances of Infante staying as hot as he is are probably slim. Secondly, it will mean more playing time for Perez. Thirdly, if Carlos Guillen has to miss additional time due to his hamstring, it will make it that much more difficult for the team to absorb.
UPDATE: Kurt left this update in the comments. Dombrowski says that Polanco is still on track and not done for the year.
The tigers web site is reporting this as well: http://detroit.tigers.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/news/article.jsp?ymd=20060917&content_id=1668167&vkey=news_det&fext=.jsp&c_id=det
Awful news.
The Tigers web site IS Jason Beck. But it’s good he got a little more in depth than the blog post. I still want to know what Spring Training has to do with it that the training staff doesn’t know about. Unless they just don’t want to confirm anything yet. In any case, this is bad news.
Polly’s bat and defense are sorely missed… what a loss. Hopefully the Tigers can fill the holes and persevere. I can’t say enough about how great it’s been to have a contender for the playoffs for the first time in twenty years. Placido definitly played an important role in getting the Tigers where they are today. I’ll keep my fingers crossed that he will in fact make it back in time for the playoffs. Go Tigrs.
Beck updated his blog:
http://beck.mlblogs.com/beck/2006/09/gm_polanco_not_.html
“Just got off the phone with Dave Dombrowski, who said Polanco remains on track to take batting practice Monday in Chicago and possibly return later on after that. He’s not sure whether Polanco was frustrated at questions or what happened, but he says Polanco is NOT out for the year and into next spring training.”
I’ve been taking a few extra ground balls. I don’t know if I can hit like PP, but I sure can hit better than Perez. When the Tigers need me, I’ll be ready.