Jansen (pelvic inflammation) to IL after exiting outing
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DETROIT – The Tigers’ injury woes continued Thursday afternoon, when they placed closer Kenley Jansen on the 15-day injured list with pelvic inflammation following his ninth-inning exit Wednesday night against the Angels.
Left-hander Drew Sommers was recalled from Triple-A Toledo to fill his roster spot for now.
The 38-year-old Jansen had battled right groin tightness early in the season but avoided an IL stint as the Tigers managed his workload. He took the mound for the ninth inning Wednesday looking to finish a badly-needed Tigers win with a four-run lead, but seemed to be moving awkwardly running towards first base on Logan O’Hoppe’s groundout to lead off the inning. Then, he seemed to stumble on the mound following through on a pitch to Zach Neto.
“He didn’t feel pain,” Hinch said. “He just kind of felt like his leg gave out.”
Jansen stayed in the game, but he called out Hinch and assistant athletic trainer Chris McDonald following a four-pitch walk to Mike Trout.
“Once he looked in the dugout again, it was going to be over for him,” Hinch said.
Jansen underwent an MRI exam Thursday morning, as did fellow right-hander Casey Mize, who started Wednesday’s game but left after four innings with groin tightness. Hinch seemed more optimistic on Mize as of Thursday morning, but the Tigers will take the next couple days to see how Mize progresses in his between-starts work before making a decision on his status.
The Tigers have two recent closers in their bullpen who can fill Jansen’s void in Kyle Finnegan and Will Vest, but both have had their struggles of late. Vest blew a ninth-inning save opportunity last week against the Guardians, then took the loss Tuesday against the Angels on Vaughn Grissom’s go-ahead grand slam on Vest’s 34th and final pitch.
Jansen sits third on MLB’s all-time saves list with 483, including seven this season with Detroit. Any prolonged absence could impact his chances of joining Hall of Famers Mariano Rivera and Trevor Hoffman in the 500-save club, particularly given the Tigers’ struggles for wins this season.