Because of an inflammation in his right rib cage, which is causing tightness, Jeremy Bonderman has been scratched from his scheduled start today against the Blue Jays.
"It happened during his last start," Detroit head athletic trainer Kevin Rand said of Bonderman's injury. "He felt it on a pitch in the third inning and still ended up pitching six. He felt some increased soreness the next day.
"He's still having some soreness, and we decided it was in his best interest and in our best interest to miss this start. Hopefully, he will miss this and be ready for his next turn in the rotation."
Starting in Bonderman's place this afternoon in Toronto will be Alfredo Figaro. He started three games last season and went 1-2 with an ERA of 8.03.
In other injury news, Gerald Laird (back), Ryan Raburn (leg) and Will Rhymes (thigh) are all dealing with ailments and were questionable heading into this afternoon's game. Raburn and Rhymes are in the lineup, but Alex Avila is starting at catcher.
Had there been an emergency last night injury-wise where Raburn had to play catcher, Rick Porcello was set to come in and play left field. Yikes.