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If you haven’t heard the news on Joe Nathan and his latest rehab stint it isn’t pretty. After being placed on the 15-day disabled list on April 8, Nathan made a Triple-A appearance on Wednesday, where he suffered a setback, which proved to be a torn UCL and tendon that will end his season. The bullpen has always been a problem for the Detroit Tigers and with Nathan out for the rest of the season, or possible his career, the Tigers need to find a way to rebuild that bullpen.
This will be the closers 2nd Tommy John Surgery of his career. The six-time All-Star went from battling for the closer role last year with Joakim Soria to battling for his career today after the killer news.
Given the long recovery from that type of surgery, and the fact he turns 41 this November, it would be unsurprising if he’s done for good. Nathan knows exactly what he will have to do to recover from this surgery and doesn’t want to call it quits quite yet. He has 377 career saves under his belt and that should be enough for him to latch onto a team in 2016 that needs a veteran in the bullpen.
Nathan stated,
“Moving forward, now that I know what’s in front of me, the one thing I’ve always been able to do is grind it out and work and push through things and it’s what I have fun doing. It’s what I’ve enjoyed doing my whole career, it’s never been easy, for me. I was a Division III shortstop and now I’ve been playing 15 seasons as a pitcher in the big leagues. Nothing’s come easy and this definitely won’t be easy, it’s gonna be a long road,” he said. “I’ve always enjoyed the work and this will be no different. I will rehab and do everything I am supposed to as if I am coming back to be a Major League pitcher. That is my goal, to come back and pitch again. But more importantly, the rehab will be good for the rest of my life anyway, it’s something I need to do to get strong again, be able to play catch with my kid, play golf, whatever I’m going to do. I am preparing myself to come back and be a Major League player.”
Nathan will be coming off one of his worst seasons in his professional career, 4.81 ERA. He has it in him to battle back and pitch for a team in 2016, but he will have a long road ahead of him and will have to do some good convincing to prove that he can still be valuable to a ball club.
