There was hope that Victor Martinez might be able to return to the Detroit Tigers' lineup at some point this season, a bit of a quick timetable for his comeback after the designated hitter tore his ACL in January. As the weeks pass by, however, it seems as though a 2013 return is much more likely.
Just a couple of weeks ago the odds were thought to be about 50-50 that Martinez would return this season, but it seems as though the Tigers' trainers have now decided to focus on the remaining two years left on his contract rather than hurrying him back this season.
Tigers head athletic trainer Kevin Rand explained the situation to MLB.com:
"We were hopeful," Rand said. "I was hopeful at the point in time at the end of July that he would test out a little bit better than what he did. Unfortunately, you just don't know in those instances."
Martinez hit .330 with 103 RBIs for Detroit in 2011. He is signed with the club through '14.
"To me, I'm looking at this from the standpoint -- we have 2013, 2014," Rand said. "I'd love to have him here. But by the same token, you can't put him at risk for those two years."
It's probably a better idea to focus on getting him healthy for the next two seasons rather than risk re-injury, but it's still tough to have one of the team's top hitters sit on the bench for an entire season.
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