Less than a week before the 2020 season opener, Jordan Zimmermann’s forearm strain may have turned the Detroit Tigers’ rotation around.
On Saturday, manager Ron Gardenhire announced that Zimmermann was placed on the 45-day injured list with a strained right forearm.
Zimmermann, who pitched Sunday in a game within the squad, was in pain and missed his expected start on Friday.
“Same thing,” said Gardenhire. “Then we can let him recover. He is going to do the rehabilitation things and we will go from there. “
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He will rehabilitate the injury and will not undergo surgery, Gardenhire said.
“He played catch a few times, it feels good and then it starts to hurt a little bit and now it’s about doing rehab,” Gardenhire said. “She has a long time here and at the end of this, we will see where she is.”
But the placement of the long-term disabled list means Zimmermann won’t be back until September, at which point the Tigers are likely to give their future starters tickets, rather than a veteran in the past year with a $ 110 contract. millions for five years. (Zimmermann must pay just over $ 8 million this season, with his prorated 60-game season contract.)
Sunday start: Tigers’ patience with Zimmermann may be shorter than ever in 2020
But that is September’s problem. What are the Tigers going to do with their rotation, beyond the top three, now, of Matthew Boyd, Spencer Turnbull and Ivan Nova, with 20 games in 20 days to open the season?
They were already facing an opening in the rotation, with left-hander Daniel Norris having missed the entire summer camp with a positive COVID-19 test in June.
A tandem left-handed Tyler Alexander was assumed and right-hander Michael Fulmer would represent Norris’s place. But with a second opening, that competition may be debatable.
Fulmer feels ready despite the elbow and knee injuries that have kept him out of games since September 2018. He threw 45 pitches in three innings of live batting practice on Saturday.
“That’s probably the most polished thing I’ve felt in my entire rehab so far,” Fulmer said. “I know I am ready.”
Alexander struggled in his last outing, a start in place of Zimmermann on Friday, but his place on the team seems secure.
Gardenhire said the Tigers have considered using a “starter,” with one starter struggling for a couple of innings to start, followed by another starter with a contrasting pitching game in relief for the Tigers to make it to the last innings. Alexander and Fulmer appear to be well matched for that role, with either pitcher (but probably Fulmer, to limit their pitch count) taking the start. Norris, who has not pitched at camp, is considered for an open spot, depending on when he is released from COVID-19.
Norris has said he considers himself 100% ready now, for the past three weeks.
Gardenhire was less certain, however.
“Well that’s the question and that’s the problem,” Gardenhire said Saturday. “Where she is as far away as her arm, her body and everything. And I think we all know that you are exercising, that’s for sure, through anything, you are exercising, but there will be a difference between exercising and going out on the mound with your arm and legs. When we have it here, we will know much more, but we have to take it to the camp, that is the first thing ”.
A pitcher who is apparently not in line for Zimmermann’s spot, at least during the first week of games against the Reds (in Cincinnati) and the Royals (in Detroit), is precious prospect Casey Mize.
While Mize has shown he’s ready for summer camp, including a dominant performance earlier in the month, he is highly unlikely to make the opening day roster, thanks to baseball’s collective bargaining agreement.
The team is still likely to turn to Mize earlier in the season, perhaps as early as the second inning in the initial rotation. But by waiting so long to add him to the 30-man roster, the Tigers would delay his arbitration-eligible years, and eventual free agency, for a season, while allowing him to thrive in a competitive environment.
If he pitches well, there may not be a place in the rotation for Zimmermann to return, despite his decision to opt for rehab before surgery.
“I think in his mind, he needs to do that to see if he wants to do that and we will definitely let him do that, obviously,” Gardenhire said of Zimmermann’s future plans.
Zimmermann’s tenure as a tiger has often been tortuous for fans. Since his first seven stellar starts in 2016, in which he allowed eight earned runs in 48 innings (1.50 ERA) and was the American League Player of the Month for April, he has posted a 6.03 ERA in 460⅔ innings. That first race ended with a strain on his right groin; The 34-year-old has also been sidelined with numerous shoulder and neck injuries on the way to 96 appearances in four seasons. He is 25-41 with a 5.61 ERA and 1,431 WHIP, with 362 strikeouts and 121 walks for the Tigers.
Still, with his days wearing the Old English D seemingly almost over, his injury seems to have given fans a final treat: an excess of entries with Mize’s name on them.
Contact Anthony Fenech at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @anthonyfenech. Read more about the Detroit Tigers and subscribe to our Tigers newsletter.
