After being scratched last second from the Detroit Tigers game against the Cleveland Indians on Tuesday, it looked like Austin Jackson was feeling a bit of pain from his abdominal injury that had kept him day to day for the last week. Unfortunately it might be a bit worse than that, and Jackson may be forced to take a stint on the 15-day Disabled List.
Originally, the plan had been to get the center fielder back for this week's series against the Indians. Jackson had practices with the team and done some hitting exercises off a tee prior to game one but the pain came back when he tried to hit off live pitching and run:
"The thing that worries you is that you don’t know if doing what he did today will set him back," Leyland said. "He was not ready to go. I could tell when he took batting practice."
Jackson didn't think he suffered any additional damage following his pregame workout, but said he had to shut himself down after one round of swings.
"It was right before I was about to make contact," he said. "It grabs right there in that moment. And I had nothing behind it. I was able to run more freely, but trying to hit 92-95, I don’t think I’m ready for that."
There's no reason to rush Jackson back for Jim Leyland, but a DL stint isn't what anyone had in mind for the young star. Quintin Berry will likely keep the center field duties as Jackson regains his health, DL appearance or not.
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