Jose Iglesias has arguably the quickest hands in baseball. So when he was drilled in his left hand with a pitch Thursday, there was obviously a great deal of concern.
The Tigers received some good news after Thursday’s game, though. Iglesias, who exited in the sixth inning after getting struck by a 95 mph fastball from Mariners reliever Tom Wilhelmsen, is listed as day-to-day with a left hand contusion. X-Rays on Iglesias’ hand were negative.
“The only thing I’m concerned about is a broken hand and missing the rest of the season,” Iglesias told reporters after the game. “It’s not broken. That’s a good thing and I’m happy about it.”
There were still some tense moments in Thursday’s game after Wilhelmsen’s heater ran in on Iglesias. The slick-fielding shortstop dropped to his knees in obvious pain before finally standing up and being tended to by Tigers head trainer Kevin Rand. Iglesias immediately left the contest and headed down into the clubhouse.
“To be honest with you, I thought it was probably broken, because it didn’t sound good,” Tigers manager Jim Leyland said.
Detroit certainly dodged a bullet. Losing Iglesias would have been a big blow for the Tigers, who have already made it clear that suspended shortstop Jhonny Peralta won’t get his starting job back upon returning to the club. Iglesias is in the midst of a solid season split between Boston and Detroit, and his defense continues to drop jaws.
