Detroit Tigers Lose Two Stars to Disabled List

Just as the Detroit Tigers surged within striking distance of the AL Central lead, they lost Jordan Zimmermann and Nick Castellanos to injury.

For a majority of the summer, it seemed as if the Cleveland Indians had all but clinched the AL Central.  A 14-game winning streak coupled with the recent championship victory by the Cleveland Cavaliers made it seem as if the Indians would be unbeatable.

That didn’t stop the Detroit Tigers, however.  The Tigers entered the season as an afterthought in the division.  The reigning World Series champion Kansas City Royals looked like a sure thing to win the division again, while the Chicago White Sox were sure to capitalize on their hot start and offseason moves.

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And for a while, that’s how the division was playing out.  Enter a 9-1 hot streak, and the Tigers are suddenly just two games back of the Indians for the division lead.  Despite losing one of their top starters in Jordan Zimmermann for all of July, the Tigers pushed through to make a run at the Tribe.

With news that Zimmermann is headed back to the disabled list after re-aggravating his strained neck and third baseman Nick Castellanos fractured his left hand, the Tigers hopes at overtaking the Indians look much more bleak.

With Zimmermann out for the next few weeks and Castellanos out for four weeks at the very least, Detroit will have to rely on a bevy of moving parts.

The surging Justin Verlander and Michael Fulmer will now lead the Tigers rotation, while Triple-A star Casey McGehee will take over at third base.

While Verlander has been hot of late and Fulmer is enjoying an impressive rookie season, those two alone won’t be enough to propel the Tigers over the Indians – especially with Anibal Sanchez playing as poorly as he possibly could.

It’s hard to imagine Verlander’s impressive string of seven dominant starts will continue much longer.  Verlander has allowed just 10 runs in his past seven starts, all while striking out 57 batters in 48.2 innings.

Fulmer has been equally impressive, as he’s allowed just 12 runs in his last seven – but at 23 and already at 104 innings, Fulmer could begin to wear down soon.

Although Zimmermann cooled down after his dominant start to the season, he still owns a 4.44 ERA with a 3.91 FIP and just 1.85 walks per nine innings.  Despite missing a month, he still has nearly 100 innings under his belt this season.

The Tigers will likely replace Zimmermann in the rotation with Daniel Norris, who missed most of July with an oblique strain.  Norris has spent most of the season in Triple-A, but was a top prospect in the Toronto Blue Jays system for several seasons.

Norris has a 4.54 ERA with a 2.55 FIP in Triple-A, and has a solid 9.55 strikeout per nine innings with 3.44 walks per nine.

As for the offense, losing Castellanos is a big blow.  The 24-year-old is in the midst of his long awaited breakout season, in which he’s hitting .286/.331/.500 with 18 homers and 58 RBI. While he’s still striking out 26 percent of the time and walking in just 6 percent of his at-bats, Castellanos has found a way to consistently make contact.

His replacement in McGehee is a veteran who enjoyed some success in the majors as recently as 2014, so he could be a solid bat in the Tigers lineup for at least a few weeks.  If his success at Triple-A is any indication as to where he is mentally, it’s that he’s craving another shot in the majors.

The 33-year-old was hitting .325/.380/.453 with 52 runs scored and 49 RBI while striking out just 15.3 percent of the time.  If he can keep up his approach at the plate, McGehee could provide the Tigers with just enough offense to get by.

And with Justin Upton finally heating up at the plate, the Tigers may not need much from McGehee.  Seeing McGehee struggle at the plate is a realistic possibility, as he hit under .200 in over 100 games last season.

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The Tigers path to the playoffs is now a bit less clear as they need to depend on a lot of moving parts, but they have the pieces in place to continue their momentum.