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Detroit Tigers pitcher Daniel Norris left the field during Monday’s game against the Cleveland Indians after suffering a strained right oblique.

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Norris Injury Details Revealed

Tuesday, July 5

Manager Brad Ausmus announced that Norris has a Grade 1 oblique strain and will have a recovery time of 10 days to two weeks, according to Jason Beck of MLB.com.

Norris No Stranger to Adversity

Norris may not be able to pitch in the immediate future, but he’s overcome more during his young MLB career.

The 23-year-old was diagnosed with thyroid cancer in May 2015 but played through the rest of the campaign before undergoing surgery to remove a malignant growth. He then announced the operation was successful and that he was cancer-free in October.

Three non-displaced fractures in the spinal process put Norris on the disabled list at the start of the 2016 season.

Norris has flashed exceptional talent in his short time in the big leagues, leaving a perfect-game bid after five innings last season—unfortunately because of an oblique strain.

The Tigers have the likes of Justin Verlander and Michael Fulmer on their pitching staff, but Norris’ ailment will hinder their depth. MLB.com’s Jason Beck reported Monday that starting pitcher Jordan Zimmermann went on the 15-day disabled list with a strained neck.

The Tigers will hope Norris isn’t down for long as they try to close the gap on the Indians in the American League Central. Once Detroit gets Norris and Zimmermann back, it could make a push for the Central crown following the All-Star break.

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Detroit Tigers star J.D. Martinez suffered a right elbow injury that forced the power-hitting outfielder to leave Thursday’s game against the Kansas City Royals in the second inning. X-rays revealed a fracture, and the team placed him on the disabled list. It is uncertain when he’ll return to the field.

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Martinez’s Timetable for Return, X-Ray Details Announced 

Thursday, June 16

Martinez is going to miss four to six weeks, according to Jason Beck of MLB.com.

X-rays showed Martinez suffered a “non-displaced fracture on the radial neck at the right elbow,” according to Chris McCosky of the Detroit News, who added a CT scan will be conducted Friday. 

Outfielder Steven Moya will be recalled from Triple-A Toledo in a corresponding roster move on Friday, per Aaron McMann of MLive.com.

Martinez an Essential Piece of Tigers Lineup 

Martinez, who was let go by the Houston Astros ahead of the 2014 season, has since developed into one of the league’s most dangerous hitters. He illustrated that by smashing 38 home runs last year, proving himself as a key cog in the Detroit lineup.

In turn, any type of injury issue causes immediate concern for the Tigers. Even though they do feature some offensive depth, losing a player of his caliber for any type of extended stretch would obviously be a serious setback. He played in 158 of the team’s 161 games last season.

With the 28-year-old outfielder set to miss time, Detroit will probably use a committee of players to fill the massive void. Anthony Gose and Mike Aviles should both see an uptick in action. They may play left field with Justin Upton shifting to right field for the time being.

It’s hard to imagine the offense producing at the same level regardless of how manager Brad Ausmus tries to replace Martinez, though. He’s a vital piece when locked in at the plate.

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The deal the New York Mets and Detroit Tigers struck last July will always be known as the Yoenis Cespedes trade, and for good reason.

Cespedes, after all, went on a Ruthian tear after heading from the Motor City to Queens, helping the Mets reach the postseason and win the National League pennant.

Cespedes had such a good time in a Mets uniform, in fact, that he re-upped with the team this winter and is raking again, despite a recent slump.

There were other players involved in that trade, however. And lately, rookie right-hander Michael Fulmer has been making it look like a win-win swap.

The 2011 first-round pick, who the Mets sent to Detroit along with Luis Cessa, is making quite the impression in his first season with the Tigers.

With six shutout innings in Sunday’s 4-1 win over the New York Yankees, Fulmer extended his scoreless innings streak to 28.1 innings, the second-longest by a rookie in franchise history, per Anthony Fenech of the Detroit Free Press. 

And he joined some elite historical company, per Baseball Tonight:

Fulmer is now 7-1 on the season with a 2.52 ERA and 52 strikeouts in 53.2 innings.

He sits in the mid-90s with his fastball, though he can touch the high 90s. And he complements that with a hard, biting slider and a changeup that he refined after some early-season struggles.

Four starts into the season, Fulmer’s ERA sat at an unsightly 6.52. So he extended his between-starts bullpen session by roughly 20 pitches to work on his changeup, per Chris McCosky of the Detroit News. 

Since then, he’s allowed a single earned run in five starts and shaved four points off his ERA.

“You’ve got to give him credit,” catcher James McCann said, per McCosky. “That pitch is mostly for his future, giving him a third pitch. He can’t survive on a fastball and slider. Players will make an adjustment. This is a third dimension to his repertoire.”

Indeed, entering Sunday’s start, opposing batters were hitting just .190 against Fulmer’s changeup.

Early on, as Sports Illustrated‘s Kenny Ducey noted, Fulmer “was plagued by hard-hit flyballs—which have never gone to benefit a major-league pitcher. His flyball rate hasn’t really plummeted since then, but his hard-hit rate has, and his ground ball rate has risen. Fewer home runs and more ground balls make for a happy pitcher.”

Jordan Zimmermann has been solid in his first season since inking a five-year, $110 million contract with Detroit, posting a 3.30 ERA through 11 starts. And Justin Verlander has strung together a nice stretch after watching his ERA balloon to 6.49 on May 3, lowering that number to 3.77 while fanning 90 in 86 innings.

No other Detroit starter, however, owns an ERA below 4.00. It’s too early to anoint Fulmer the ace, but it’s not too early to ask where the Tigers—who sit three games out in the American League Central at 32-30—would be without him.

Speaking of Verlander, Fulmer recently drew a favorable comparison to the former AL Cy Young Award-winner and MVP.

“He’s a go-after guy,” former Detroit hurler Joel Zumaya said, per Jeff Seidel of the Detroit Free Press. “He shows no emotion. His emotion is: OK, I’m going to eat you and I’m going to get you. He goes right after guys. I was that type of guy, Verlander is that type of guy.”

We’re talking about a 23-year-old kid after only a handful of starts, so this is where we temper the enthusiasm a tad. Zumaya himself is an example of how even the most promising careers can fizzle.

Still, Fulmer undoubtedly has the Tigers excited. While there are surely fans in Detroit who sigh wistfully whenever Cespedes goes on one of his patented power binges, Fulmer is helping to balance the ledger.

If he keeps going like he has been, someday we might even look back and proclaim the Tigers won the trade outright. Cespedes, remember, is almost certainly going to opt out of his deal after this season and command huge money in a weak free-agent class, whereas Fulmer is under club control for years to come. 

Yes, again, it’s a small sample size. There will be bumps and course corrections, as there always are.

But any time a player who’s helping your team win now also looks like an important piece of the future, you’re permitted to smile.

The more zeroes Fulmer tosses up, the bigger those grins will get.

All statistics current as of June 12 and courtesy of MLB.com and FanGraphs unless otherwise noted.

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Detroit Tigers first baseman Miguel Cabrera exited Friday’s game against the Chicago White Sox with a back injury. It is unclear when he will be able to return. 

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Cabrera Listed as Day-to-Day

Friday, June 3

Per the Tigers’ official Twitter account, Cabrera was taken out of the game with lower-back tightness and is officially day-to-day. 

Cabrera headed to the disabled list for the first time in his career in 2015. He played in just 119 games—his fewest since his rookie season in 2003. His performance at the plate didn’t suffer, though, as the two-time MVP led the league with a .338 batting average to go along with 18 home runs, 76 RBI and a .534 slugging percentage.

Still, the timing of Cabrera’s calf problem wasn’t all that great for the Tigers. The massive eight-year extension Cabrera signed with Detroit wasn’t even in effect at that point. The deal began with the start of the 2016 season, and he’s due to earn $248 million through 2023 with $30 million options for 2024 and 2025, per Cot’s Baseball Contracts.

Even when it was signed, the contract looked quizzical at best, and it’s only getting worse with Cabrera starting to look his age (33) and signed for at least the next seven years.

This is also the second time the right-handed slugger went down injured in 2016. He suffered a bruised knee after Tampa Bay Rays reliever Dana Eveland hit him with a pitch on May 22:

It goes without saying the Tigers don’t have a replacement who can deliver anything close to what Cabrera—one of his generation’s best hitters—can at the plate.

Manager Brad Ausmus could potentially move Victor Martinez to first base, but that would leave the team without a designated hitter, forcing one of Jarrod Saltalamacchia, Mike Aviles or Andrew Romine into the lineup.

With the Kansas City Royals and Cleveland Indians setting the pace in the American League Central, the Tigers need Cabrera back as soon as possible to remain in the hunt for the playoffs.

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The Chicago White Sox (29-25) are fighting to get back to the top of the division, winning two in a row heading into Friday’s road matchup with the Detroit Tigers (25-28) following a season-high seven-game losing streak.

Meanwhile, the Tigers will try to move one step closer to the .500 mark when they send Jordan Zimmermann to the hill as minus-140 home betting favorites (bet $140 to win $100) at sportsbooks monitored by Odds Shark.

Zimmermann (7-2, 2.52 ERA) got off to a great start for Detroit, winning his first five starts by posting a stellar 0.55 ERA after inking a five-year, $110 free-agent deal in the offseason. However, he has struggled lately, going 2-2 with a 4.88 ERA in his past four outings and dealing with a groin injury that forced him to miss his last start.

The Tigers have dropped five of six overall following a 5-4 loss to the New York Yankees on Thursday in a makeup game. They will face Chicago for the first time this year after going 10-9 in the 2015 season series, according to the Odds Shark MLB Database, including 6-4 at home.

The over has gone 6-4 in the past 10 meetings at Comerica Park, but the under is 5-1-1 in the last seven between the teams overall.

The way the White Sox have been scoring lately, the total could be headed under here as well. They have averaged 3.3 runs in their last nine games and totaled 17 less than Detroit has scored this year. However, Chicago’s Carlos Rodon (2-4, 4.24) has seen his team average 6.5 runs in the previous four he has started, despite losing three of them.

Still, Rodon walked away with three no-decisions during that stretch and has managed to go 1-2 in his past six outings, even though the Sox have lost five of them.

The 23-year-old southpaw has split his last two starts, both coming against the Kansas City Royals, giving up three runs and 14 hits in 11.2 innings with four walks and seven strikeouts. The over is 3-1 in his last four starts, after the under went 5-0-1 in his first six.

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Detroit Tigers first baseman Miguel Cabrera suffered a left knee contusion against the Tampa Bay Rays on Sunday but is ready to return to action.

Continue below for updates:

Cabrera in Lineup vs. Phillies

Monday, May 23

The Tigers confirmed Cabrera is playing first base and batting third for Monday’s game.

Cabrera Is Centerpiece of Tigers Offense

It looks like age is finally catching up with the 33-year-old. Last season was the first time since 2003 that Cabrera played in fewer than 148 games when he was forced out with calf issues. 

While on the field, though, he continued to keep up his All-Star-caliber play, hitting .315 with nine home runs and 26 RBI on the season.

This is Cabrera’s ninth season with the Tigers, and he has become one of the greatest hitters of this generation. In 2012, he became the first player since Carl Yastrzemski in 1967 to win the batting Triple Crown. 

Cabrera has shown time and time again throughout his career that he can hit to all parts of the field with power and consistency. He’s led the league in batting average in four of the past five years and has batted under .320 just once in the past seven.

He helped lead the Tigers to four straight playoff appearances from 2011 to 2014, including an American League championship in 2012. But the emergence of the defending World Series champion Kansas City Royals has made the Tigers’ stronghold on the American League Central much weaker. 

Stats courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com

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Detroit Tigers pitcher Jordan Zimmermann suffered a Grade 1 right groin strain Sunday against the Tampa Bay Rays, and it’s uncertain when he’ll return to action.

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Zimmermann Diagnosis Revealed

Monday, May 23

Jason Beck of MLB.com reported an MRI revealed a Grade 1 groin strain, adding that the team expects to skip his start this coming weekend against the Oakland Athletics, but noted he’s “day-to-day” after that.

Injury Sidelines Tigers’ Top Starter

After spending the first seven seasons of his MLB career with the Washington Nationals, Zimmermann signed a free-agent deal with Detroit prior to the 2016 season. He is dominating this year—to the tune of a 6-2 record and 2.52 ERA.

The Tigers brought in the 29-year-old to join the top of the rotation after they dealt David Price at last year’s trade deadline. The team’s pitch in free agency appealed to him, per Shawn Windsor of the Detroit Free Press.

“The Tigers made me their No. 1 priority,” he said. “That felt good.”

While Zimmermann enjoyed a solid 2015, going 13-10 with a 3.66 ERA and 1.20 WHIP, it was a down year by his standards. In 2014, he went 14-5 with a 2.66 ERA, 1.07 WHIP and 182 strikeouts in 199.2 innings. In his first five seasons, he had compiled a 3.40 ERA and 1.17 WHIP over 692.2 innings.

One thing Detroit likely didn’t expect when it signed Zimmermann was injury concerns, as he has been one of the majors’ most consistent and reliable starters over the past handful of seasons. From 2012 through 2015, he made at least 32 starts each year.

One of Zimmermann’s greatest strengths is his durability. Since undergoing Tommy John surgery in 2009, he has largely been healthy. The Tigers are undoubtedly hoping that will continue despite this injury. Unlike the Nats, Detroit may not have the pitching depth needed to make up for the long-term loss of one of its best starters, as the pressure will now shift to the likes of Justin Verlander, Anibal Sanchez, Mike Pelfrey and Michael Fulmer.

Pitching was the Tigers’ Achilles’ heel in 2015, as they ranked 28th in ERA (4.64) and 27th in WHIP (1.37). If Zimmermann is on the shelf for an extended period of time, those issues could crop up again.

Follow @MikeChiari on Twitter.

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Detroit Tigers right-hander Justin Verlander reached the 2,000-strikeout milestone on Wednesday against the Minnesota Twins. 

Verlander’s historic punchout came on a high fastball against Twins outfielder Eddie Rosario in the fourth inning: 

Verlander’s 2,000th strikeout put him sixth among active starting pitchers and tied him with Andy Benes for 75th on Major League Baseball’s career list. 

Per Anthony Fenech, Verlander also became the second pitcher in Tigers history to record 2,000 strikeouts:

Fenech also took a trip down memory lane to remember Verlander’s first strikeout 11 years ago when he debuted on July 4, 2005:

Fittingly, Verlander’s 2,000th strikeout was also of the swinging variety. 

The 33-year-old Verlander is no longer at the height of his powers, when he was winning the Cy Young and MVP awards in the same season. He entered play Wednesday with a 4.71 ERA and eight home runs allowed in 49.2 innings pitched. 

However, one skill that has not yet abandoned Verlander is the ability to miss bats. He had more strikeouts (50) than innings pitched coming into Tuesday’s game. 

It’s been a rough start to 2016 for the Tigers, who are in fourth place in the American League Central. Verlander’s milestone doesn’t turn all of their fortunes around, but it does give the team and their fans a reason to celebrate his reign of dominance.

Stats per Baseball-Reference.com.

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Miguel Cabrera, Victor Martinez or Nick Castellanos—one of them has to sit. Who’s it going to be?

A month ago, that would have been an easy question. Martinez and Cabrera are the veteran backbone of the Detroit Tigers offense. Castellanos, at age 24, is a formerly hyped prospect who made positive strides last season but is thin in the track-record department.

Yet for the first two games of the Tigers’ series against the Washington Nationals—playing in a National League park with no designated hitter—skipper Brad Ausmus opted to rest Martinez on Monday and Cabrera on Tuesday while keeping Castellanos in the lineup.

The young third baseman rewarded his manager, cracking a home run in each game and tallying a total of four RBI. The Tigers split the two contests—losing 5-4 Monday and winning 5-4 Tuesday—and currently sit at 15-17.

Castellanos, meanwhile, is flat-out rolling. Entering play Wednesday, he paces the American League with a .378 average and owns a gaudy 1.045 OPS to go along with a team-leading seven homers and 28 RBI.

There are reasons to doubt his early surge is sustainable—as we’ll delve into shortly—but raking is raking.

Drafted out of high school with the 44th overall pick in the 2010 amateur draft, Castellanos made his MLB debut in 2013 trailing plenty of buzz.

Here’s how Bleacher Report’s Adam Wells summed up the general scouting consensus at the time:

There are certain players you will see on a baseball field who were so obviously born to do something—throw a 98 mph fastball, hit home runs, etc.—it makes the rest of us feel bad for not being able to do it.

Nick Castellanos was born to hit baseballs.

He showed flashes, but struggled at times with the bat and especially the glove, posting minus-30 defensive runs saved (DRS) at the hot corner in 2014, per FanGraphs.

In 2015, he hit 15 homers and drove in 73 runs, though his .303 on-base percentage and .721 OPS didn’t scream superstar-in-the-making.

For a month-plus in 2016, he’s been a beacon of hope on an otherwise mediocre Tigers team.

Free-agent right-hander Jordan Zimmermann is dealing aces, but the rest of the pitching staff has scuffled, putting Detroit in the bottom third in team ERA. And key offensive cogs, including J.D. Martinez (.230 average, .668 OPS) and Justin Upton (.220 average, .574 OPS), are swinging wet noodles.

After watching its run of four straight division titles crumble into a last-place finish in 2015, Detroit was searching desperately for a spark.

Enter Castellanos.

“I would just say the biggest thing that has changed has been my comfort level, being familiar with all the pitchers and stadiums and situations,” he said of his early hot streak, per Fox Sports’ Ken Rosenthal. “I feel way more relaxed. I feel like I’m not trying to do too much.”

OK, now for the wet blanket. After Monday’s action, Castellanos owned an absurdly high .455 batting average on balls in play (BABIP), per FanGraphs, which screams regression.

And his walk rate remains low, which means a dip in batting average would significantly deflate his stat sheet.

On the other hand, as Kyle Yost of Bless You Boys pointed out, Castellanos teased this production in the final months of 2015:

Take a look at his stat line from June 23 until the end of the season. Castellanos hit .283/.329/.487 with 121 wRC+, numbers that look much more like his 2016 start than his 2014 numbers. Considering these numbers, his electric start should have been a little less surprising and a little more expected. Though 2016 has been even greater than how he ended 2015, the foundation for this season stems from how he ended the last.

Again, we’re talking about a 24-year-old still coming into his own. Even if he doesn’t hit .378 for the season (spoiler alert: he won’t), there’s no reason to assume he can’t keep improving.

“He ended up completing his development at the major league level,” Tigers general manager Al Avila said, per Rosenthal. “When you develop at the major league level, you make mistakes. It can frustrate a lot of people. You’re still learning the game…still trying to figure things out.”

On a team laden with pricey veterans, here is a cost-controlled kid with rising-star potential. He’s figuring it out. Drink it in, Tigers fans.

Tastes good, right?

Ultimately, Detroit will need more than Castellanos to stay competitive in the balanced, crowded AL Central. They’ll need Upton to live up to his six-year, $132.75 million deal. They’ll need arms other than Zimmermann‘s to provide consistent, quality innings. And they’ll need Cabrera and Martinez to stay healthy and productive.

If you’re searching for positives in the Motor City, however, look no further than the up-and-coming third baseman who has earned his skipper’s trust—and a secure spot in the everyday lineup.

All statistics current as of May 10 and courtesy of MLB.com and Baseball-Reference.com unless otherwise noted. 

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The Detroit Tigers announced they activated pitcher Francisco Rodriguez from the family medical emergency list and optioned outfielder Tyler Collins to Triple-A Toledo on Wednesday.

Collins, 25, had two hits in 20 at-bats this season. He was also the source of some controversy Monday after flipping off a booing Detroit crowd after misplaying a ball in the outfield.      

“To hear boos after that play hit a trigger inside of me, and I lashed out, completely inappropriately,” Collins said, per Katie Strang of ESPN.com. “I’m absolutely embarrassed, and I’m very sorry to everyone in Detroit.”

Rodriguez, 34, recorded four saves in five opportunities before briefly leaving the team. He’d struggled through most of his first seven appearances, giving up five runs in 6.1 innings. 

“Second-guessing myself,” Rodriguez said, per George Sipple of the Detroit Free Press. “Walking the tying and go-ahead run is something that you as closer cannot let happen. You cannot do it. Simple as that. So I’ve just got to make some adjustments quick and start pitching better. Simple as that.”

The Tigers have lost five of their last six games and were not in a save situation during Rodriguez’s absence. He’ll likely continue to hold down the ninth inning for the foreseeable future despite his struggles.

Rodriguez had been stellar during his stint with the Milwaukee Brewers, which spanned parts of five seasons. His difficulty avoiding bats brings to mind his last stint in the American League, when he posted a 4.50 ERA in 23 games with the Baltimore Orioles.

Collins has played 88 MLB games over the last three seasons. He set a career high in games played last season with 60, hitting four home runs and driving in 25 runs. The Tigers have all the outfield depth they need, so this move shouldn’t affect their roster outlook all that much. 

Follow Tyler Conway (@jtylerconway) on Twitter

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