According to Steve Kornacki of Mlive.com, Tigers reliever Joel Zumaya will make a return visit to world-renowned orthopedic surgeon Dr. James Andrews next Monday.

The reason?

Zumaya who threw from 60 feet in Lakeland continues to feel a ‘radiating pain’ in his right forearm. He was cleared to start throwing last week.

“He continues to have a radiating pain down his right forearm,” said Tigers head athletic trainer Kevin Rand. “He said he would’ve been fine if he stopped at 24, but on the 25th one he felt something.”

Zumaya had surgery on July 12th to place a screw in his right elbow which he fractured while throwing a pitch on June 29th at Target Field in Minneapolis. His off-season rehabilitation was promising however after making one appearance in spring training he began to feel discomfort and it was discovered that he tore some scare tissue in the right elbow. Since then Zumaya has been sidelined for the Tigers and remains on the disabled list.

I’ve remained very optimistic on Zumaya ever since he had the finger injury in Kansas City back in 2007. However the frequent injuries and the extent of the injuries he’s experienced have began to make me less optimistic. In fact at this point it’s becoming very difficult to see Zumaya making a return to the team.

I hope I’m wrong.

Source: Mlive.com

lefty46860