Detroit Tigers: Jordan Zimmermann, Christin Stewart undergo core muscle repair surgery

The Detroit Tigers have announced that two players who are likely to be key parts of next year’s team have undergone core muscle repair surgery.

On Friday, the Detroit Tigers announced via Twitter that starting pitcher Jordan Zimmermann and outfielder Christin Stewart had undergone core muscle repair surgery. According to the Tigers, both players are expected to be good to go for Spring Training of 2019.

Both players are also clearly in different stages in the respective careers. Next spring, Zimmermann will be entering the fourth season of a five-year, $110 million deal. His tenure in Detroit has largely been a disappointment. Stewart, on the other hand, will be looking to snag a spot on an opening day roster for the first time in his career. Not only does he stand of good chance of making the team, Stewart appears to be the heavy favorite to be the starting left fielder next season.

To be fair, Zimmermann did take steps in the right direction this past season. Overall, he went 7-8 with a 4.52 ERA and a 1.26 WHIP through 25 starts. Over his first two seasons in Detroit, he had a combined ERA of 5.60 to go along with a 1.48 WHIP. He also bumped his K/9 up to 7.61 in 2018. In his first two years with the Tigers, he had a K/9 of 5.64 and 5.79, respectively.

Going by ERA plus, Zimmermann was nearly a league average pitcher with a mark of 97 (average is always 100). However, average is almost certainly not the type of performance the Tigers were expecting when they signed Zimmermann three years ago.

When it comes to Stewart, the slugging outfielder had a fine showing with the Tigers after being called up in September. Through 17 games, the powerful left-handed hitter batted .267/.375/.417 (117 OPS+) with two homers and 10 RBI.

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In Triple-A This season, Stewart batted .264/.364/.480 with 23 home runs and 77 RBI. Through a total of just four seasons in the minor leagues, he slugged an impressive total of 93 long balls.

Going forward, Zimmermann has shown that although he may never return to being a a top-of-the-rotation arm, he can still provide some stability to a team’s starting staff. He will clearly still be a big part of a rotation next season that is also likely to include Michael Fulmer, Matthew Boyd and Daniel Norris. While it might be a stretch to expect the Tigers to claw their way back to contention in the two seasons that remain on Zimmermann’s contract, it is possible that he could still emerge as a trade chip at some point down the road.

Stewart appears set to become a huge part of the Tigers’ future. He may turn out to be the formidable left-handed bat the team has been needing.

For the Detroit Tigers, it is certainly good news that both players should be all set for Spring Training next year. It will be interesting to see if Zimmermann can prove doubters wrong in the fourth season of his contract, and if Stewart can meet the expectations that some are likely to place on him.