There is a careful caution right now surrounding Detroit Tigers closer Jose Valverde's wrist, as he injured it on Tuesday night while warming up for an appearance in the ninth inning during the Tigers' 6-3 win over the St. Louis Cardinals.
Valverde got an X-ray immediately after he was pulled from the bullpen and got an MRI shortly after, but no results are back in for sure yet. There's a bit of concern, as to be expected when a player gets knocked out of a game so suddenly for reasons they can't quite put their finger on:
Tigers manager Jim Leyland admitted he was concerned.
"Sure," Leyland said. "Yeah. I was just back there with the doctors checking him out. Obviously, there will be some testing. I don't really have any idea. (Bullpen coach) Mike Rojas said he was throwing great. He threw a pitch and kind of came off the mound. Then he tried to throw another one and couldn't."
Phil Coke ended up taking the closing duties instead when Valverde's wrist got hurt and did well enough to keep the game in Tiger hands. Nobody has yet been named as a new closer in the case that the injury is serious, but Coke seems a likely candidate.
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