4:07pm: Head trainer Kevin Rand said that Greene will begin throwing in two months and is expected to be ready for Spring Training, per Anthony Fenech of the Detroit Free Press (Twitter link).
3:50pm: Tigers right-hander Shane Greene will undergo season-ending surgery, manager Brad Ausmus told reporters, including MLive.com’s James Schmehl and MLB.com’s Jason Beck (Twitter links). Doctors will operate on Greene’s right shoulder to repair an issue with his circumflex artery, which has been causing psuedoaneurysm symptoms in his right arm. Greene had been experiencing numbness in his throwing hand.
The 26-year-old Greene was acquired from the Yankees this offseason in a three-team deal that sent Didi Gregorius from the D-Backs to the Yankees and lefty Robbie Ray from the Tigers to the D-Backs. Greene’s torrid start to the season generated quite a few headlines, but it was largely fueled by a microscopic BABIP, and his strikeout rate had plummeted with the Tigers. He struggled from late April through early June and found himself demoted to Triple-A, though it’s very possible that the issue he’s now getting corrected has been affecting him for a large portion of the season.
Greene presumably would’ve been in line for a September call-up in order to perhaps earn a guaranteed role in Detroit’s rotation in 2016. However, he’ll now enter the offseason with a bit more uncertainty surrounding his 2016 status. Anibal Sanchez and Justin Verlander are locks to return to the rotation next year, health permitting, and trade acquisitions Daniel Norris and Matt Boyd would seem to have strong cases as well. Greene figures to be in the mix along with that pair of young lefties along with right-hander Buck Farmer and lefty Kyle Lobstein.
Of course, new general manager Al Avila may want to bring in some additional rotation options either via free agency or trade. Following Dave Dombrowski’s exit from the Detroit front office, Avila’s comments had a win-now tone, so it seems reasonable to expect that he’d seek some more stability in the starting rotation this winter.
That’s too bad. His true talent level is probably close to the level he performed at last year with the Yankees. Let’s hope he gets back on the field without complications.
2016 Starting pitching does NOT look too bad for the Tigers:
1. Must See JV.
2. Anibal
3. VanMan (Norris)
4. Fulmer (forgotten acquisition).
5. Green
6. Boyd
7. Lobster
8. Farmer
Get Shark or Fister, and they go 9 deep. Make two of them relievers and get another 2 relievers and they should go right back to competing.