Granderson shelved by broken finger

Granderson shelved by broken finger
Outfielder headed for 15-day DL, will miss at least two weeks
By Jason Beck / MLB.com

LAKELAND, Fla. -- What was hoped to be a simple bruise to Curtis Granderson's hand has turned out to be a stint on the disabled list. The Tigers will place their star center fielder and leadoff hitter on the 15-day disabled list, retroactive to March 23, with a non-displaced fracture of the metacarpal at the base of his right middle finger.

The injury occurred in the fourth and final inning of Saturday's rained-out game against the Phillies. Granderson was leading off the inning when a fastball from left-hander Travis Blackley ran inside and struck him in the hand. Granderson took his place at first base and remained in the game before heavy rain halted the contest two batters later.

"I was hoping [Granderson] was OK," president/general manager Dave Dombrowski said Sunday morning, "but I also saw that he was shaking his hand."

The initial feeling was that it was little more than a bruise, and Granderson suggested he could've stayed in the game had it continued. However, X-rays taken as a precaution revealed a fracture right behind the knuckle.

The prognosis, Dombrowski said, calls for Granderson to wear a splint on the finger for about two weeks, after which he should be cleared to resume baseball activity. From there, the hope is that he won't need much time to get back up to speed and be ready to return to the lineup. By placing him on the DL retroactive to March 23, he'll be eligible to come off after the first week of games.

There was no immediate word on how manager Jim Leyland plans to replace him in the lineup. The Tigers still have a natural center fielder in camp in Freddy Guzman, but Ryan Raburn and Brandon Inge have also shown themselves capable of playing center. Jacque Jones has also played center in his career, but he has not done so this spring.

Replacing Granderson's offense could be the tougher challenge. He and Phillies shortstop Jimmy Rollins were the first players since Willie Mays to post 20 doubles, 20 triples, 20 home runs and 20 stolen bases in the same season last year, a feat to which Granderson added a .302 average in a breakout campaign at the plate.

Leyland has used catcher Ivan Rodriguez in the leadoff spot for games against left-handed starting pitchers this spring, and he has said he would consider doing so once the regular season began.

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

That is so not good!!!!!!!!

Sorry to see that pitched ball, that hit Curtis did fracture a bone.

But on the up side...
Inge will get some playing time! He did well in CF today, filling in for Grandy.

GoGetEmTigers wrote:

But on the up side...
Inge will get some playing time! He did well in CF today, filling in for Grandy.

Inge will be forced to bat though. Still waiting for the upside.

bobrob2004 wrote:

GoGetEmTigers wrote:

But on the up side...
Inge will get some playing time! He did well in CF today, filling in for Grandy.

Inge will be forced to bat though. Still waiting for the upside.

but he was batting better this year, off and on....

Sunday, March 23, 2008
Tigers' Granderson out three weeks
Tom Gage / The Detroit News

LAKELAND, Fla . -- The Tigers will begin the season without Curtis Granderson. He's on the disabled list with a broken right middle finger.

General manager Dave Dombrowski made that announcement Sunday morning before the Tigers played to a 10-inning, 3-3 tie with the Indians.

Gary Sheffield accounted for two of the Tigers' runs with a home run in the first inning.

Granderson suffered the injury on a pitch that hit him in the fourth inning of the Tigers-Phillies game on Saturday in Clearwater. The game was rained out two batters later, but the damage had been done.

Granderson didn't have to leave the game, but X-rays were taken of his hand when the team returned to Lakeland. At that time, the "non-displaced fracture" was diagnosed.

Dombrowski said he's expecting Granderson's absence to be "short term," but that still means about three weeks.

Said Granderson, "There's a little crack on the top of (the hand)."

Dombrowski said Granderson's hand will be placed in a splint, not a cast, for the next two weeks. "The doctors are considering it the finger. They are looking for a callous to form, and when it does, he'll be able to work full bore at that point."

As the Tigers' center fielder and leadoff hitter, even a short-term loss of Granderson is a major loss, however, just as Kenny Rogers' shoulder injury was at the end of spring training last year. Rogers' absence, though, was of much longer duration than the Tigers expect Granderson's to be.

"It's probably about the 10th spring I've seen something like this happen," said Dombrowski. "It happens a lot."

As for the $153.3 million, eight-year contract that Miguel Cabrera and the Tigers have a preliminary agreement on, according to ESPN, Dombrowski said only that "we've made progress."

It can happen to anyone, at any time....

No :curtis: for Opening Day!

Get back soon Curtis!

things were going so well for him, too....

:puke2:

DAMMIT!!

I bet it is killing Curtis to be on the DL. I hope he doesn't rush to get back. Take your time Curtis and heal completely! PLEASE!!

nothing like making it worse by coming back too soon!

We had seen that happen too many times last season.

things were going so well for him, too!

Yeah, they were. I have a feeling that he will come back better! Curtis is not one to just sit around, he will be doing something.

In ONE WEEK it is Opening Day! (Just realized that!!!!)

what a time to have it happen, too.

laprimamirala wrote:

what a time to have it happen, too.

Better now, while we still have Inge, than down the stretch, near the end of the season, when things could matter on any one game!

Go

It's time for Inge to step up and prove himself.

Maybe this will make him realize how important he actually is because this kind of thing can happen any time!!!

It really can....and often does!

Tigers' Leyland: Inge is 'probably' starting center fielder
Lynn Henning The Detroit News

VIERA, Fla. -- Tigers manager Jim Leyland said Monday that Brandon Inge will "probably start" in center field against Kansas City on Opening Day, one week from today at Comerica Park.

Leyland is not ready to say what position player will replace the injured Curtis Granderson on the Tigers 25-man roster.

"I have a good inkling who that player might be," Leyland said before Monday's game against the Washington Nationals at Space Coast Field. "But I'm not going to get into it."

Leyland had a long conversation Sunday with Inge, who was displaced at third base by Miguel Cabrera and who has at the center of trade talks throughout spring camp. Granderson's placement on the 15-day disabled list because of a broken hand sustained Saturday has potentially changed his trade status.

"I think Brandon is a lot happier leaving camp than he was coming in," said Leyland, who also plans for now to make Inge his back-up catcher. "We got everything sorted out. His attitude is tremendous. Our relationship is tremendous.

"He'll leave camp happier and a lot more at ease, and he deserves that."

Leyland could not say who would play center field if Inge were deployed at catcher on days Pudge Rodriguez is either rested or, potentially, sidelined.

"If you know, tell me, 'cause I don't know," said Leyland, who will make his final roster decisions later this week.

Granderson is expected to miss 2-3 weeks because of the fracture to his hand.

Leyland takes serious the doctors' assessments there, but, he said, "There's still a certain amount of nature that has to take its course.

"I've heard that stuff before," he said, referring to the prognosis of a 2-3 week recovery. "All of a sudden it's a month, a month and-a-half."

Normally takes 5-6 weeks to totally mend a break. Lucky it is a small fracture, but that needs to be mended or it can be re-injured!

There's a reason Inge isn't going anywhere!

sometimes things happen a certain way and you can't change it!

GO

there's a reason you can't be traded right now, buddy!

It sucks to not have Grandy...but Inge can step in and do the job

He has to!