Category Archives: Injuries

2006 Season, Injuries, Players

Maroth to have surgery

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Tom Gage and Danny Knobler are both reporting that Mike Maroth will undergo surgery to have bone chips removed from his elbow. This unfortunately means that what was looking to be Maroth’s most promising season will be derailed for a significant time period. According to today’s press notes, Maroth will have the surgery on Friday and it will be performed by Dr. Lewis Yocum.

I’m not sure of the timetable, but Baseball Prospectus’s injury guru Will Carroll notes that Kelvim Escobar came back from the same surgery in 6 weeks last summer. So it’s possible that Maroth could be back just after the All Star break.

Possible fill-in candidates, short of a trade, remain Roman Colon, Zach Miner, Jordan Tata, Wil Ledezma, Jason Grilli, and Humberto Sanchez.

UPDATE: Miner will get the start on Sunday.

2006 Season, Injuries, Pitching, Roster Management

Mike Maroth to the DL

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So I guess that elbow thing is pretty serious. Mike Maroth has been placed on the 15 day DL and Chris Spurling has been recalled. Presumably Roman Colon or possibly Jason Grilli will become the 5th starter for the next couple weeks, with Spurling back-filling the bullpen.

There aren’t many details yet, but Maroth had been scheduled to visit with a doctor today. Presumably the news wasn’t good.

This is disappointing, and not from a “can the Tigers get by” perspective. Mike Maroth endured quite a bit during that 2003 season, and personally I really wanted him to continue his early season success. I was hoping this would be his redemption year.

As for Spurling, after a couple rough outings initially in Toledo he has been lights out.

2006 Season, Injuries

Maroth and Wilson hurting

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During last nights broadcast, Rod Allen mentioned that Mike Maroth’s elbow was hurting him again. Today Maroth was hammered. Maroth’s elbow has been a recurring problem since spring training. With only throwing 27 pitches today, hopefully he can make his next start. Otherwise the Tigers will probably dip into AAA and recall Wil Ledezma or Jordan Tata. I’m not sure that either would start, but they could make Roman Colon or Jason Grilli available to slide into that spot.

Also, Vance Wilson was supposed to get the start today. But he stepped on a ball while running during batting practice and rolled his ankle. It sounds like only a sprain, and it hopefully won’t be serious. In the meantime it will probably just mean less time off for Ivan Rodriguez. And in the event that Pudge gets hurt, the Tigers have a plan for emergency catcher. If you were thinking Brandon Inge or Chris Shelton you’d be thinking logically, and you’d be wrong. Instead, your emergency catcher is none other than Ramon Santiago.

2006 Season, Injuries, Roster Management

Young to DL, Hannahan up

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Dmitri Young has been place on the disabled list. Whether or not it was his quad or his other issues limiting him, he needs time to get himself right.

Jack Hannahan will get his first major league taste in Young’s place. Hannahan is 26, bats left handed, and spent the bulk of his minor league career as a solid defensive third basemen. This year he’s been playing several infield positions. He’s had a solid year at the plate hitting 282/390/412.

2006 Season, Injuries, Minors

Tigers Minor League Wrap – May 18th

Toledo 8, Norfolk 2
Jordan Tata made his second start, with better results. He last 5 innings and allowed one run on 3 hits. He did walk 4, but fanned 7 before being pulled after 97 pitches. Ryan Raburn his his 7th and 8th homers and added a single. David Espinosa had 4 hits, and Don Kelly reached base 3 times.

Erie 4, Reading 3
Tony Giarratano had a double, a single, and two walks. Kody Kirkland homered and singled. Virgil Vazquez allowed one run in 8 innings. He allowed 7 hits and 3 walks.

Brevard County 10, Lakeland 3
Chris Robinson had 3 hits, including 2 double to raise his average to .269. Jeff Larish also had 3 hits, including his 5th homer. Lance Davis was the victim of 4 errors and allowed 7 runs (3 earned) on 8 hits in 6 innings.

West Michigan 1, Peoria 1 11th inning in progress
This game just won’t end. Matt Joyce homered and singled to lead the Whitecap attack. Ramon Garcia keeps impressing. He pitched 9 innings and allowed 7 hits while fanning 6. Cameron Maybin didn’t play, but got good news from his MRI. It won’t require surgery, but he’ll be out 3 weeks. Now that we know he’s out, I’ll stop pointing it out every night.

2006 Season, Injuries, Minors

Tigers Minor League Wrap – Sort of – May 8th

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I’m feeling under the weather, so instead of your regularly scheduled minor league wrap, all you get are links to box scores. Also, the Twins series wrap will be a day late. Sorry, but I need the rest, and I’m calling it an early night.

I did want to point out that Wil Ledezma and Matt Mantei have both been DL’d.

Toledo, Norfolk

Erie, Akron

Lakeland, Daytona
Dallas Trahern was hammered early in this one, 8 runs (4 earned) in 3 innings.

West Michigan, Beloit
Cameron Maybin gets the night off.

Injuries, Roster Management

Tigers Minor League Wrap – May 5th

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Richmond 2, Toledo 0
Chad Durbin pitched quite well. He allowed 5 hits while fanning 7 and walking none in 7 innings. Meanwhile the defense committed for errors. Offensively there wasn’t much to say for the Mud Hens. Don Kelly drew two walks, as did Josh Phelps. Kevin Hooper was 2 for 5.

Erie 8, Harrisburg 3
Brent Clevlen finally hit his second homer, and added a single. Kurt Airoso hit his 7 homer. Virgil Vasquez pitched 5 uneven innings. He walked four and struck out 3, but only allowed 3 runs. Eulogio De La Cruz pithced a scoreless 9th inning.

Lakeland 3, Fort Myers 1
Jeff Larish was doubled and walked in 5 plate appearances. Kevin Ardoin and Kevin Whelan combined to hold Fort Myers to one run. Ardoin went 7 2/3 innings fanning 6 and walking none. Whelan struggled picking up his 7 save with two walks and a hit.

West Michigan 3, Burlington 2
Ramon Garcia continues to pitch exceptionally well. Tonight he threw 6 innings of 4 hit ball. He fanned nine and walked 2. Orlando Perdomo gave up a run, but got the save. Cameron Maybin singled , stole a base, and picked up an intentional walk. Michael Hollimon doubled for the Whitecaps only extrabase hit.

Injuries, Roster Management

Young up, Gomez out

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Dmitri Young is back from the disabled list after a two game rehab stint in Erie. He was 1 for 4 with a double yesterday and 0 for 3 with a walk and two strikeouts. I don’t know if he has his timing, but at least he saw some live pitching.

The odd man out is Alexis Gomez. He has been designated for assignment. If he clears waivers, he’ll go back to Toledo.

The Tigers still aren’t in a 40 man roster crunch with only 38 members aftter Gomez is removed. They will still have room to add Matt Mantei with out having to remove anyone if they choose. to.

2006 Season, Injuries, Pitching

Tigers Rain Delay Linking

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Stuff of note from the last few days:

  • Dmitri Young’s return seems close. He’s heading to Erie for a rehab assignment. To keep track of Young’s progress, make sure to check the minor league reports.
  • Remember when TV play-by-play man Mario Impemba was blogging on MLBlogs? That blog was kind of abandoned this winter. Well, I just found out he’s been blogging for Fox Sports. This incarnation looks to have launched during spring training and is kept up to date.
  • It also looks like Mario fancies himself a webmaster. He maintains a site about baseball broadcasting called the Sound of Baseball
  • I also happened across a couple of Tiger blogs. Mack Avenue and The Daily Fungo.
  • Much of the Tigers pitching staff success this year is being attributed to meetings that Chuck Hernandez holds with the staff and catchers. In the meetings they discuss how to approach the coming series. According to Vance Wilson this level of preparation is new

    We’re getting good scouting reports. We’re getting together as a group and talking about their lineup and getting good feedback. Chuck’s been awesome. I don’t think we’ve had this kind of preparation in a long time here in Detroit.”.

    Now I always thought that Bob Cluck was a decent pitching coach, and I guess I just assumed this was taking place in the past. Hmmmm

  • In other pitching news it appears that Justin Verlander is battling a blister problem. It sounds like it only causes problems for his curveball.
  • Chris Shelton and Kenny Rogers were named Tigers player and pitcher of the month for April
  • And last but not least, the Tigers are certainly not last nor least. On Baseball Prospectus’ Hit List the Tigers hold the number one spot.
Injuries, Roster Management

Jones back, Spurling to Toledo

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Todd Jones has been reinstated from the disabled list and will be available to pitch tonight. To make room for Jones, Chris Spurling was optioned to Toledo.

With Jones coming back, one of three pitchers were likely to be sent down. The group included Spurling, Jordan Tata, and Jason Grilli. Spurling and Grilli have had similar results. However, Jason Grilli would have had to clear waivers where Spurling had options remaining.

As for Tata, I thought he would still be the choice. He’s been fairly effective in his 3 outings, mostly because he’s limited the opposition to 4 hits in 8 2/3 innings. The downside to Tata is that he has walked 7 batters in those 8+ innings while only striking out 4. So while his results have been good, he may be walking a fine line. Also, I would have guessed the organization would have liked to get him more starting experience in Erie/Toledo.

2006 Season, Injuries

What Log Jam?

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It doesn’t seem so long ago that the Tigers were trying to figure out what to do with the 3 headed-monster that was Carlos Pena, Dmitri Young, and Chris Shelton. Well the situation seems to have resolved itself because Shelton is now the lone first basemen and the active roster.

Dmitri Young has shockingly found himself on the disabled list with a strained quadricep. With that, the Tigers have been reduced down to two left handed bats of measurable worth.

With Dmitri on the DL, the bulk of the playing time should fall to Marcus Thames, and Alexis Gomez will fill the void on the roster. I’m okay with this, and am anxious to see what Thames can do with regular at-bats.

The problem arises when somebody needs a day off, then who do you turn to? Craig Monroe has been struggling the last few games, so it made sense to sit him today. The result is that for the second time in a week, Omar Infante is the starting DH. And then if there are a couple guys banged up, as was the case yesterday, the potent offense becomes potentially anemic.

The Tigers now find themselves in a situation where they have very limited pinch-hitting options, they only have one legitimate first basemen, and there utility infielder will be thrust into the role of DH when an injury plagued veteran needs a day off. I was worried about the Tigers bench before the season started, and it hasn’t taken long for it to come into play. That’s why even though I’m satisified with 7-5 at this point, I would have liked to see another win or two given the relative health the team enjoyed over the first dozen games.