Detroit Tigers Veteran 'Grateful' When Looking at Bright Side of His Injury
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The Detroit Tigers got some bad news early this spring.
After Matt Vierling reported having some shoulder soreness, things escalated to the point where he is now going to miss Opening Day because he's been diagnosed with a strained rotator cuff in his right shoulder.
He'll be put on the injured list when the time comes, leaving the Tigers without one of their most versatile players on the roster until at least April 6 if he only gets the 10-day designation.
Vierling fully expects that to be the case, looking at the bright side of things despite being "shocked" that he'll have to miss the start of the season.
"It could've been way worse. I'm feeling grateful that it's not torn, and I'm feeling grateful that it's March 1. I feel lucky that this happened now versus in May. I'm going to be back. I'm happy that it happened now, and I'm happy that it's not worse," he said per Evan Petzold of The Detroit Free Press.
The thing is, that's the positive look on the situation.
Detroit hasn't given a timetable for his return. He'll need roughly three weeks of rest before being re-evaluated again to see how things have recovered, if at all.
Petzold said the shoulder issue first popped up back in mid-February on the first day of full-squad workouts, and after spending the week working through the soreness and playing in the outfield during a spring training game, he didn't bounce back like normal and got things evaluated.
That determined the strain.
"I don't really have an answer as to what might've caused this. I've been told it probably just built-up over time," Vierling said.
That's where some concern could be drawn from.
While true rest could do him some good since he was likely doing stuff in the offseason to prepare for the upcoming campaign, it's still a bit concerning that he suffered a strain just one workout into the year.
It should also be pointed out that's not unusual.
Players always experience some sort of strain on their bodies when getting back into baseball shape.
But there's also no guarantee that an injury that was the result of something that "built-up over time" will be fully healed and a non-issue over the course of a 162-game schedule.
Vierling is still looking at the bright side when it comes to this situation and his upcoming recovery, staying thankful it wasn't immediately diagnosed as a tear which would have sidelined him for even longer if not the whole year.
"I'll be back. We'll be good," he stated.
