The good news on Matthew Boyd is there’s no structural damage to his pitching arm.
But the Detroit Tigers will have to make do without their veteran left-hander for a few weeks.
Boyd, placed on the 10-day injured list earlier this week, has been diagnosed with muscular tendinitis. Boyd departed his outing in Kansas City on Monday after 2⅓ scoreless innings due to left arm discomfort.
He won’t begin throwing for a couple of weeks.
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“He’s got to work through inflammation and get all that out of his arm,” manager AJ Hinch said Friday before playing the Los Angeles Angels. “He’s not going to make a start before the All-Star break.”
Hinch strongly hinted Thursday that Boyd and Spencer Turnbull wouldn’t return prior to the July 13 All-Star Game in Denver. Turnbull was placed on the IL on June 5 with a right forearm strain. He’s at the team’s facility in Lakeland but hasn’t begun a throwing program.
Boyd has undergone multiple exams since the injury, the latest from Dr. Neil ElAttrache in Los Angeles. ElAttrache is an orthopaedic consultant with the Angels, among other sports teams.
“We’ll take a conservative approach and make sure the inflammation is out of there, so we don’t have any issue moving forward,” Hinch said.
Boyd is 3-6 with a 3.44 ERA in 13 starts this season. With starting pitching at a premium around the league, Boyd’s name has been tossed about in trade rumors once again. The injury could hamper efforts to move him if the Tigers go into sell mode before the trade deadline July 30.
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With Boyd and Turnbull out, the starting staff consists of Jose Urena, rookies Casey Mize, Tarik Skubal and Matt Manning — who made his major-league debut Thursday — and a large question mark. Hinch has been forced to use a number of bullpen days and he’ll continue to take that approach. Wily Peralta will make his first MLB start since 2017 on Saturday night.
Hinch will continue to give his younger pitchers five or six days of rest between starts to limit workloads.
“I’m not going to bring back Casey, Tarik and Matt on regular rest unless I have to,” he said. “The (open) spot in the rotation is going to continue to roll forward. Even though we have an off-day on Monday we’re going to stay conservative with our young pitching and make sure they get as much rest as we can give them from start to start.”