Detroit Tigers righty Jeremy Bonderman had his sore pitching elbow checked out after lasting just 1.1 innings in a 14-7 ass-whooping by the Seattle Mariners Sunday. No structural damage was found, but inflammation on the outside of the elbow did occur with no timetable set for his return.
Bonderman drilled through an 8-0 start to the season before sliding to 3-9. Over his last 10 starts where he failed to mention his elbow was killing him, he went 1-8 with a 8.23 ERA.
The 77-66 Tigers entered this week just four games behind the 81-62 New York Yankees in the Wild Card race and six games behind the 83-60 Cleveland Indians in the AL Central.
When asked if Bonderman would pitch again this season, Tigers manager Jim Leyland assured, "If I was a guessing man, I'd guess no." He continued in a rather threatening tone,"This time, though, Bonderman has to come clean about how he really feels. He pitched with pain on Sunday because he wanted to see if he could and because he wanted to do his part. He won't do that again."
If the defending American League Champs plan on catching anyone this season, they need healthy, reliable pitchers to accompany their offense.If they can't get that from Bonderman, The Gambler or their other young would-be studs with 18 games left to play, then you can go ahead and count them out of October.
[Detroit Free Press]
[Detroit Free Press]
2 comments:
So if you're counting Detroit and Seattle out (I am too) ... does that mean the AL playoff picture is pretty much set? Is the only thing left to be resolved who faces who in the first round?
Pretty much. Isn't that sad? I expected much more of a dog fight in the AL Central, and a little more stamina from Seattle and Oakland...
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