The Tigers will finish the season without Will Vest, and the reason is now official: elbow surgery ended his year.
Manager AJ Hinch said before Friday’s game in Sacramento that Vest had the procedure on Wednesday in Dallas to repair a fractured olecranon bone at the base of his elbow. Vest is also scheduled to have arthroscopic surgery on his hip in a few weeks.
“It’s really been tough to watch him go through this season,” Hinch said.
Vest had been dealing with hip inflammation for much of the year, and his season took a sharper turn when he went on the injured list on June 28 with what was diagnosed as a stress fracture. The injury wasn’t healing, and after he consulted with specialist Dr. Keith Meister, surgery became the recommendation.
“We have leaned on this guy over the last two years to be an instrumental part of either as a bridge to get to the finish line or the actual finish line,” Hinch said. “We’ve really missed him. He’s been part of the path to a win in so many different ways, including some really cool wins (two wins, two saves in the postseason) the last couple of years.
“Having him struggle and the losing him for half the season is definitely a blow.”
Vest never really found his footing this season, finishing with a 6.08 ERA, two saves in seven chances and five losses.
His absence has been felt in the bullpen, where the Tigers have taken 18 losses after leading in the seventh inning or later. They also have 25 blown saves and only 21 saves.
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