Dmitri Young to the DL

[RockSports17]

Link

DETROIT -- The Tigers placed DH/outfielder Dmitri Young on the 15-day disabled list Saturday. How long he'll be there is a question too early for the club to answer.

Young strained the quadriceps muscle in his right leg running the base paths on Friday night as he tried to slow down heading into third. He left the game immediately and, after the game, described the injury as "not good."

Young looked noticeably better walking around the clubhouse Saturday morning and in the dugout during the game. Head athletic trainer Kevin Rand saw it as a somewhat encouraging sign, though not nearly a sign of health.

"In some ways, He felt a little better this morning than he thought he was going to feel," Rand said. "Still, making certain moves, he knew he was injured."

At this point, though, nobody knows any sort of timetable on when Young could be back. He also missed two weeks during Spring Training with a strained quadriceps in the other leg, which ended up being less severe than originally expected.

This time, Rand said, "It's too early to tell. We've got to get him pain free. We've got to get his range of motion back, and then address strengthening issues before we even get thinking about any sort of timetable at this point."

Until he's back, that's where manager Jim Leyland is going to leave the topic. As he said during Spring Training, his track record as a manager is to not discuss injured players until they're close to returning. When Young is ready to play, as Leyland put it, he's ready to play.

"That's the way I've always worked," he said. "I'll deal with what I've got. I can't worry about what I don't have right now. I'm going to miss Dmitri, because that's my man, but right now I'm not going to have him."

Heh. He really wasn't hitting to great anyways, so maybe this break will allow him to rest, and he'll come back hitting better.

[BoSox34]

Heh. He really wasn't hitting to great anyways, so maybe this break will allow him to rest, and he'll come back hitting better.

Who needs Dmitri when you have a Chris Shelton?

[RockSports17]

LOL.

Well, actually, Dmitri Young is usually a great hitter, and what we need is a great hitter right now in the middle of the lineup. Shelton bats 6th, and Leyland doesn't move Shelton around, mainly not to screw up his hot streak right now. Our middle has just been sucking, Pudge, Ordonez, Dmitri before his injury. Pudge hits well every now and then. But Ordonez has played horrible so far this season, the same as Dmitri. Inge gets moved all around the lineup. While Thames can hit in the middle of the lineup, 4th or 5th. So, that's actually just the area the Tigers need the most improvement in their lineup. Sorry to rant, I know you were just stating something in jest, but I just like putting my thoughts out there.