Tigers reliever Joel Zumaya returned to Comerica Park Tuesday night delivering the game ball as his entrance music Voodoo Child by Jimi Hendrix blared on the Comerica Park loud speakers.
“It feels good,” Zumaya said. “I’m honored to be here. It’s fun to be back here, especially in this situation that the team is in right now. It brings back a lot of memories.”
The free-agent-to-be Zumaya is currently pitching for the Tigers in the Florida Instructional League as he continues to rehab himself from yet another lost season due to injury.
“The ball is coming out easier than I’ve ever thrown,” Zumaya said. “I’m throwing with less effort than I used to. I’ve been working on some pretty good changeups and breaking balls. Everything has fallen into place.”
Zumaya says he plans on playing winter ball this year in hopes that he makes a return to the Tigers in the spring.
“I don’t know where I’m going to end up next year,” Zumaya said. “Hopefully it’s here. I love this place.”
Zumaya is eligible for free agency at the end of the season after he avoided arbitration this past offseason by signing a $1.4 million dollar contract with the Tigers. He says he hasn’t had any contact with the Tigers’ front office about a contract extension but says he doesn’t want to go anywhere else but Detroit.
“No one has spoken to me,” Zumaya said. “If the Tigers want to go ahead and talk and do something, I’m ready. I don’t feel like going anywhere else. I started here and I wish I could end here.”
Because of lingering and reoccurring injuries, Zumaya has been limited to only 126 1/3 innings over the past five years. If the Tigers were to offer Zumaya anything it would probably be along the lines of a minor league contract with Toledo. With that it seems very conceivable that the Tigers bring Zumaya back under those terms considering that’s the extent of what he’ll probably get from other teams around the league.
Ref: Detroit Free Press, Mlive.com, AP (image)