Tigers' Brennan Boesch Placed On Disabled List

The Tigers have placed injured outfielder and slugger Brennan Boesch on the disabled list after he underwent thumb surgery earlier in the week.

The move allows the Tigers to have more flexibility in the playoffs, allowing them to call up a player that was otherwise ineligible. The guidelines for playoff rosters are as follows:

To be eligible to play in the playoffs, a player must have been on his team’s active roster, the disabled list, the bereavement list, the paternity list or the suspended list as of midnight Aug. 31.

But players who have served their time on the disabled list and are still on the disabled list when the regular season ends can be replaced with other players in the organization when a team puts together its playoff roster.

The Tigers already have two players on the disabled list, pitchers Brad Thomas and Joel Zumaya. Chris Iott from MLive speculates that the most likely replacement candidate is outfielder Andy Dirks.

Boesch originally suffered the injury to his right thumb on Aug. 9 against the Indians. He played sporadically over the next few weeks as he tried to gut it out, but it was eventually discovered that he had a torn ligament and needed surgery.

Brennan Boesch Has Surgery On Injured Thumb

Detroit Tigers outfielder Brennan Boesch did not waste any time in getting his ailing thumb surgically repaired after it was announced Sunday that he was planning to have it soon, effectively ending his season. According to the Detroit Free Press, he had surgery on Tuesday morning:

Brennan Boesch had surgery this morning to repair the torn ligament in his right thumb. The procedure, performed by Dr. Thomas Graham of the Cleveland Clinic, "went very well," said Tigers head athletic trainer Kevin Rand.

If Boesch would have had the surgery earlier in the season, he would have been inactive for at least 10-to-12 weeks, so it’s safe to say he will not be returning this year.

Boesch finished this season hitting .283/.341/.799 with 16 home runs and 54 runs batted in, a slight improvement upon his rookie numbers that helped him earn 5th place in the American League Rookie of the Year voting.

Brennan Boesch Expected To Miss Rest Of Season Because Of Thumb Injury

Detroit Tigers outfielder Brennan Boesch was originally planning on having surgery on his right thumb after the season. Those plans have changed, however. The injury has worsened, and Boesch is going to have surgery in the immediate future.

Boesch says he doesn’t have a concrete date yet for the operation but hopes to have it sometime in the next week. He hit .283 with 16 home runs in 115 games this year, but he’s played only once since Aug. 24.

Although Boesch could potentially start working his way back in the next five weeks, it's unlikely he will play again this season. Even if the Tigers are making a playoff run, he doesn't think he will be ready to go in time to see the field again this year.

With Boesch set to miss the rest of the year, the Tigers will need outfielders Magglio Ordonez, Ryan Raburn and Andy Dirks to step it up during the final month of the regular season and potentially the playoffs.

Tigers' Brennan Boesch Will Eventually Need Surgery On Injured Thumb