Tigers’ Rookie Al Alburquerque Struck in Head During Batting Practice

While the Baltimore Orioles took batting practice in advance of tonight’s match-up with the Detroit Tigers at Camden Yards, Tigers right hander Al Alburquerque was playing catch in the outfield.

A line drive off the bat off Robert Andino struck Alburquerque in the head and the rookie feel to the ground, writhing in pain for several minutes, this according to MLive’s Chris Iott. Jeff Zrebeic of the Baltimore Sun tweeted “really scary scene. Went down head-first and feet were flailing.” Alburquerque was eventually helped to his feet and was taken off the field on a cart. No immediate updates were available on his condition.

I think it’s safe to say that the Tigers will be without his services this evening.

If he cannot go, Alburquerque will join left fielder Brennan Boesch as unavailable. Boesch suffered a grade two sprain of his thumb on Wednesday and missed the series finale with Cleveland last night. He is listed as day-to-day, but was replaced in the lineup tonight by Andy Dirks.

One other situation to keep an eye on is that of Victor Martinez and his balky knee. VMart injured the knee on Sunday and has been unable to play defensively since then. As a result, Alex Avila has had to catch every inning since then, including tonight. If Martinez’s knee doesn’t allow him to catch soon, the Tigers may be forced to bring Omir Santos up from Toledo to give Avila a break.

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