Arlington, Texas – Well, small blessing, at least Tigers lefty starter Matthew Boyd didn’t have to travel far to have the surgery.
Boyd underwent Tommy John surgery Wednesday morning with Dallas-based surgeon Dr. Keith Meister. He is expected to return to Detroit in a couple of weeks and begin the 12- to 18-month rehabilitation process.
It was the second surgery on his left arm in less than two years. The first one, in September of 2021, was to repair the flexor tendon.
Tigers’ lefty starter Tarik Skubal, who will make what is expected to be his final rehab start with Triple-A Toledo Wednesday night, is also recovering from flexor tendon surgery.
It seemed natural to ask, given how soon after that surgery Boyd’s ulnar collateral ligament gave out, if there was heightened concern about Skubal?
“I understand why and how people would be curious about it,” manager AJ Hinch said. “But you’ve really got to be careful comparing situations that are unrelated.”
All injuries and surgeries are different, of course, even if it’s the same body part. Plus, Skubal, unlike Boyd, already went through Tommy John surgery, in 2017.
“We try to stay educated on everything but not draw any real conclusions until you specifically know exactly what everybody is doing in their situation,” Hinch said. “That’s the same for hamstrings, calves and for any other ailments.
“It’s not fair to the current guy (Skubal) to immediately draw conclusions when everything is drastically different.”
Mize throws in bullpen
It’s been a busy couple of days for Dr. Meister. He also did a 12-month checkup of his work on Tigers’ pitcher Casey Mize. Meister performed Tommy John surgery on Mize on June 15, 2022.
“Everything looked good,” Mize said. “He told me to stay the course.”
Toward that end, Mize threw his first bullpen since the surgery before the game Wednesday.
“That was incredible,” Hinch said. “He was energized. He took it very seriously; dove right into his delivery and the pitch shapes. He took a very Casey Mize approach to his program. It was fun to see.”
Mize threw 15 pitches, all fastballs. Last week, Mize threw 10 fastballs but only 55 feet. He threw the full 60 feet, six inches Wednesday.
“I’m proud of him,” Hinch said. “This hasn’t been an easy path for him. It’s not been linear. It’s not been easy. It’s not been exactly how we thought it was going to go. He just keeps taking the challenge.”
Hinch was asked if there was a chance Mize could return to competition before the end of the season.
“That’s a really long time from now,” he said. “I don’t know what the rest of this year holds for him. But today was an important step for him for a lot of reasons.”
Around the horn
… The Tigers called up right-handed reliever Garrett Hill and optioned lefty Anthony Misiewicz back to Toledo. Misiewicz gave up three runs in one-third of an inning Tuesday. “What a sad day for Mis,” Hinch said. “He was excited to get up here and he wanted to make a good impression. That didn’t go well and the state of our bullpen is not in good shape. So the need for a fresh arm was there. There was a lot that went into this decision than just a one-day look.”
… Lefty Eduardo Rodriguez (finger) is scheduled to make a rehab start with Toledo in Columbus Thursday.
chris.mccosky@detroitnews.com
Twitter: @cmccosky