Detroit Tigers’ Delmon Young ruled out of ALCS – MLB Update
Detroit Tigers’ star slugger and left-fielder Delmon Young has been scratched from the roster of American League Championship Series citing oblique injury and is not likely to return to action anytime soon.
After having impressed immensely in the AL Division Series against New York Yankees, Young will be largely missed in the otherwise not-so-impressive line-up. Young hammered three home-runs in the ALDS and drove in three runs to finish the series at an average
of .316.
Young picked up the injury in Game 5 of the ALDS and earlier described it as mild strain. However, it turned out to be a reaggravation of an abdominal injury that forced him to miss 19 games for Minnesota Twins during the regular season.
Detroit’s manager Jim Leyland voiced his concerns over Young’s injury and stated that the word oblique makes him nervous. He clarified that he has never seen this ailment recuperate in a day or two and Young’s loss will surely dent the team’s progress.
"With Delmon out, it changes things," Leyland said. "It obviously hurts a little bit, because he's a right-handed hitter and we're going to see three left-handed pitchers plus they have good left-handed stuff in the bullpen."
Describing his move to keep Young out of the ALCS, Leyland said, "We might have kept him on hoping for maybe Game 4 or 5 or something."
A seven-game rest might help Young recover in time for a possible World Series stint with the Tigers. However, after the result of Game 1, a World Series spot for the Tigers might be a distant possibility.
Young drove in 32 runs and eight home-runs at an average of .274 in 40 games for the Tigers in the regular season after his acquisition from the Twins in August. He was widely praised after the ALDS, where he became the first player in the history of the
franchise to hit three home-runs in a single post-season series.
The Tigers will be looking to come out strong against the Rangers. It will be interesting to see what impact the loss of Young will have for the Tigers in this series.
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