Carlos Guillen was removed from Detroit’s shutout victory over the Oakland Athletics yesterday, and the Tigers aren’t sure when he’ll be able to return.
If you watched yesterday’s game, you’d have a hard time pointing out the exact play in which Guillen sustained his injury. This is because Guillen managed to strain his calf during a play that didn’t involve him.
In the 4th inning, starting pitcher Justin Verlander induced a dribbler off the bat of Jemile Weeks. Verlander routinely fielded the ball and tossed it to first baseman Miguel Cabrera for the out.
As the teams were getting ready to move on to the next at bat, it was discovered that Guillen had somehow come up lame.
When the ball originally came off Weeks’ bat, Guillen made a break to his left in case Cabrera attempted to make a play. It was at this time that Guillen pulled up. The second baseman later described the calf as grabbing at him.
Nothing is official yet, but Tigers manager Jim Leyland doesn’t see Guillen returning anytime soon. Leyland is convinced this will not be a short term thing, perhaps causing Guillen to miss the remainder of the regular season.
Guillen has become fairly accustomed to watching his teammates play without him. The 35 year old’s 2011 season didn’t begin until July, and a month later Guillen was back on the disabled list with a sore wrist.
In all, Guillen has only played 28 games this season for the Tigers, batting .232/.265/.368 with 6 extra base hits and 13 RBI’s over that span.
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