Christian Post Report – For the first time in his professional career, Justin Verlander has been placed on the disabled list. Verlander strained his triceps in his final Sprint Training start. The Detroit Tigers were hopeful he would be healthy enough to pitch on April 12, but that was not to be. He will be eligible to return April 13.
To replace his spot on the roster, the Tigers will turn to left hander Kyle Lobstein, who never really had a shot to make the big league roster and was assigned to the Triple A Toledo Mud Hens. Lobstein will make the start on April 12 against the Cleveland Indians. Lobstein spent 2014 in Toledo recording a record of 9-11with a 4.07 ERA and 1.479 WHIP.
“It’s disappointing,” Verlander told Mlive.com. “Obviously, everything I’m doing was to try to get ready for Sunday. The days just kind of stack up. I needed to be able to pitch on Tuesday to be able to do that. I just wasn’t ready.”
Now the Tigers have to find a way to get Verlander back into the rotations once he is 100 percent. They will have run through their starting five (four) once this Friday when Alfredo Simon takes the mound in Cleveland. That would leave David Price tentatively set to start Saturday with Lobstein set to go Sunday. The next series is a three-day affair in Pittsburgh.
Tigers’ manager Brad Ausmus said “I can’t tell you where we’re going to slot him in. After Sunday, we can kinda slot him in wherever we want, based on where he is physically and how he feels.”
Source : Christian Post