According to Detroit Tigers manager Brad Ausmus, starting pitcher Daniel Norris has “nondisplaced fractures in [his] spinous process,” per MLB.com’s Jason Beck.
Continue for updates.
Norris Unavailable for Opening Day Roster
Thursday, March 24
Many expected the 22-year-old left-hander to compete for a spot in the Tigers’ rotation this spring. Instead, he has a 9.95 ERA in 6.1 innings, and he missed what would’ve been his fourth start while dealing with lower-back stiffness.
Even if Norris were back to 100 percent by the time the Tigers open the 2016 season on April 5 against the Miami Marlins, Ausmus already eliminated any hope he’d be on the major league squad, per MLive.com’s Chris Iott: “No, he won’t be [ready] at this point. From a pitch-count perspective he probably wouldn’t be ready by Opening Day.”
Iott added Norris saw a specialist about his back Thursday.
The former second-round pick moved to the Tigers in the David Price trade. He made eight starts for Detroit in 2015, going 2-1 with a 3.68 ERA. Norris began the year as one of the more highly touted prospects in the game, ranking 17th on FanGraphs and 34th on Baseball Prospectus.
As long as this back injury doesn’t turn into a lingering issue, it shouldn’t have a significant impact on Norris’ development, even though he won’t be in the majors to start the year.
His absence would all but guarantee Shane Greene is the Tigers’ No. 5 starter coming out of spring training.
Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com