Detroit Tigers right fielder Nomar Mazara was placed on the 10-day injured list on Thursday but it will take longer than that for his left abdominal strain to heal.
There’s no timetable for his return but it’ll be “at least a couple weeks” before he’s ready, manager AJ Hinch said before Saturday’s game in Oakland, California.
Mazara suffered the injury while taking a swing during the fourth inning of Wednesday’s 6-4 victory over Houston. He’s batting .237 with two homers and five RBIs.
[ ‘Vintage Jose Urena’ solidifies rotation spot, leaving Tigers with a decision ]
“He’s going to be more than the 10 days but not necessarily … a huge long period of time,” Hinch said.
JaCoby Jones and Victor Reyes are essentially platooning with Mazara out, though both were in Saturday’s starting lineup with Akil Baddoo getting a day off.
Cabrera to take BP
Miguel Cabrera has been fielding some grounders and taking some swings in the batting cage in Oakland.
He was placed on the 10-day IL on Sunday with a left biceps strain. He’ll miss the three-game home series against Pittsburgh but could be activated toward the end of next week if all goes well.
“I’m expecting him to take batting practice on the field as we get back into the homestand,” Hinch said.
After hitting a two-run homer in his first at-bat, Cabrera had just two more hits in 23 at-bats before he was sidelined.
Base-stealing isn’t a priority
Entering Saturday, the Tigers have stolen just three bases, two from Robbie Grossman. The stolen base has been de-emphasized in recent years across baseball, but Hinch says it’s more of a product of personnel.
“We’d like to run a little bit more,” he said. “We were really aggressive in spring from a mentality standpoint. That’s more important to me than the number of steals.”