⏩ MLB notes:
Detroit pitcher Turnbull will have surgery.
Two worst words in baseball for a pitcher: forearm strain.
What seemed like an irritating but mostly innocuous setback when Spencer Turnball walked off the mound in Chicago on June 4 has turned out to be a seasonending injury.
The Tigers righthander, who on May 18 threw a nohitter in Seattle and was on the cusp of a breakout year, will have reconstructive surgery on his elbow, Tommy John surgery, at the end of the month.
“He’s pretty resolved that he’s going to get this right and be back,” said manager AJ Hinch, who announced the news Tuesday before the Tigers’ game against the Rangers. “The frustrating part, besides that we are losing a really good pitcher, is that it wasn’t a singular event (that precipitated the injury).
“Usually you see a guy walk off the mound in a ton of pain. An obvious injury. He was a little sore. It wasn’t a UCL (ulnar collateral ligament). We didn’t know the extent.”
The initial diagnosis was forearm strain and Turnbull spent a few weeks in Lakeland, Fla., to let the inflammation calm down. But once he started throwing again, the symptoms came back. That’s when he went through another battery of tests and the torn ligament was indicated.
“He’s seen an array of doctors and had tests and multiple opinions,” Hinch said. “He had some chronic damage that was revealed through the injury. It wasn’t an abrupt injury to his UCL. When he came back and failed in his throwing program, he got retested. And that was recommendation.”
Generally, the timeline for recovery on Tommy John surgery is 12 to 18 months.
Turnbull is expected to have the surgery in Birmingham, Ala., though not with the renowned Dr. James Anderson. Doing without? Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo says he doesn’t plan on having infielder Starlin Castro back with the team this season.
Castro was placed on administrative leave July 16 by Major League Baseball under its domestic violence, sexual assault and child abuse policy.
Rizzo, speaking with reporters Tuesday, didn’t say if his statement on Castro was based on the whether the process will play out in time or not.
“The process is the process,” he said. “You asked the question, ‘Do I plan on having Starlin Castro back,’ and I said I do not plan on having him back.”
Another Pettitte: Lefthander Jared Pettitte, son of threetime AllStar lefty Andy Pettitte, agreed to terms with the Miami Marlins as an undrafted free agent Tuesday.
Marlins CEO Derek Jeter and Andy Pettitte were New York Yankees teammates for 15 seasons.
The younger Pettitte pitched for Dallas Baptist University this year and had a 5.81 ERA in 13 games. He helped lead his Houston high school team — coached by former major leaguer Lance Berkman — to a state title in 2016, when he had a 121 record and a 1.20 ERA. Briefly: Kansas City starters Danny Duffy and Brady Singer were put on the injured list. Duffy has a strained flexor in his left elbow and landed on the IL for the second time this season. Singer is out because of right shoulder fatigue after allowing seven runs in two innings his last time out . ... The Marlins’ Sandy Alcantara is heading to the bereavement list and will miss his previously scheduled start for Miami on Wednesday against the Nationals.