More Injuries!
By Blake VandeBunte • Apr 4th, 2008 • Category: Brandon Inge, Gary Sheffield, Miguel CabreraWe all know that the Tigers have had their bullpen rocked by injuries already this season. You can now add a couple of sluggers to the list. Miguel Cabrera missed yesterday’s game with a sore f
oot. His injury isn’t serious and he will probably play this afternoon against the Chicago White Sox. On the more serious end of the spectrum, Gary Sheffield tore a tendon in his finger in yesterday’s loss to the Royals. Sheff hit his finger on second base when sliding in trying to stretch a single to a double. He was called out.
Following the game, Leyland said that had Sheffield come up to hit the 9th inning they would have had to call a pinch hitter because he would have been unable to hit. Here are some of the things said about Sheff’s finger in the past 24 hours or so:
- “It won’t straighten out” - Gary Sheffield
- “it looked deformed.” - Gary Sheffield
- “there was no feeling” - Gary Sheffield
- “tore the tendon a little bit.” - Gary Sheffield
Now, I’m now doctor and I’ve never claimed to know much fingers, however, this doesn’t sound good at all. The team as said they will evaluate Sheffield today to determine if he needs to go on the DL. If he can’t get his finger straight it’s going to be pretty tough to hang on to a baseball bat. That’s a fact. If I had to put money on this I’d guess he’s headed for the disabled list.
So what happens now? This opens up yet another spot for Brandon Inge to get playing time. Say Granderson is out for a month or so, the Tigers will get Granderson back before they could see Sheffield back in the line up. They could then shift Miguel Cabrera to DH and have Inge play third base. Inge will be happier than a pig in crap if he gets to play third.
If Sheffield needs surgery and is out longer than a few weeks the team could explore trades. The Free Press floated the idea of Barry Bonds but I just can’t see that happening. Of course I couldn’t see us getting swept at home by the Royals either and scoring 5 runs in the process either.
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