Jacob Turner Shut Down, Diagnosed With “Dead Arm”

At least for the time being, the race for the Tigers fifth and final starter has one less member.

Tuesday evening, Lynn Henning broke news (via twitter) that top prospect Jacob Turner is suffering from a “dead arm”.

"Tigers backing off Jacob Turner for a few days. His velocity was down Monday. Officially: “a dead-arm period,” Leyland says."

Turner has clearly struggled this spring, posting a 11.25 ERA over 4 innings. The velocity and strikeouts are down and batters are hitting .333 against him. Making matters worse, Turners has issued 6 free passes.

A “dead-arm” phase isn’t the worst of news. Expect to see Turner back on the hill, sooner rather than later.

As always, we’ll do our best to keep you updated.

UPDATE:

Per Tigers beat writer Jason Beck,  head athletic trainer Kevin Rand is now officially labeling Turner’s setback “tendinitis in his right shoulder”.

The time table for his return remains unknown. Beck did ask Leyland about Turner’s chances to crack the Tigers rotation though.

"“For me, this is just a burp,” Leyland said.When asked if this knocks Turner out of the fifth-starter contest, Leyland said it did not. But he acknowledged it puts him behind.“I would say it lessens his chances of being the fifth starter,” Leyland said. “Does it take him out? No.”"

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