He isn't Jesus Christ or anything, but with the way things have been going in the Tigers bullpen recently, Joel Zumaya might as well be.Now almost fully resurrected, Zumaya is set to begin a rehab assignment in Toledo and could be back in the Tigers bullpen by next Tuesday.
Zumaya will begin a scheduled three-appearance rehab assignment with Triple-A Toledo on Monday. If that goes well, he will rejoin the Tigers a week from Tuesday for their series opener at home against Cleveland, manager Jim Leyland said Saturday.It couldn't come at a better time for the Tigers, as Jim Leyland had to make some "emergency" moves on Saturday to get his bullpen some relief. The team called up Aquilino Lopez and Eulogio De La Cruz from Toledo just because they needed somebody in the bullpen whose arm doesn't feel like it's falling off right now.
Leyland said Zumaya will pitch one inning for Toledo on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday. "If everything is OK, we expect him to pitch for the Tigers a week from Tuesday," Leyland said.
Of course the best relief for those tired arms is probably the young man with flames on his wrist, and trailing his fastball. Though the flip side of Zumaya's return would be that he won't have as much free time to work on his acting skills.
