By now you have most likely heard the news that Tigers setup man Fernando Rodney has been placed on the 15-day disabled list with bicep tendinitis. This is another major blow to the Detroit bullpen any way you look at it.

Rodney has certainly not been as good as he was in ‘06 through this point. Then again very few were as he allowed zero earned runs in April and only 4 in May in a total of 23 innings. This year has been a bit more rough for Fernando as he compiled a 5.40 ERA through April and so far his ERA sits at 3.42 up to now. But while his ERA has dropped his hits per game has risen from April to May from 8.93 per 9 innings to 10 hits per 9 innings. Even so he is key to this bullpen moving forward.

If anything good has come out of this it is possibly that Zach Miner is back with the team. Miner has been with Toledo most of the year making a single spot-start appearance to fill in for Mike Maroth. While starting off rough he has really buckled down this past month and put together a spectacular run of innings in Toledo:

These stats don’t count his start in Boston where he went 5.1 innings allowing only two runs. With stats like these he’s very welcome and possibly what the bullpen needs at this point. For Zach this is another shot to stick with the team even upon the return of Rodney to possibly replace Jose Mesa. Mesa has been, for the lack of a better word, abysmal this year. He has struggled numerous times this year and also had a brief stint on the disabled list.

Currently the Tigers have three bullpen members on the disabled list, two of which were the two that Detroit was needing to rely upon through the year.

• Ramon Colon - 15-Day DL
• Fernando Rodney - 15-Day DL
• Joel Zumaya - 15-Day DL

Colon has really been out for some time and even though he is soon to start his rehab stint he is far from something the team can rely upon.

Dombrowski said he expects right-hander Roman Colon to begin a minor-league rehabilitation assignment during the next seven to 10 days. Colon has been on the disabled list, recovering from neck surgery, since the end of spring training. Colon went 2-0 with a 4.89 ERA in 20 games for the Tigers last season. He has not pitched in the majors since Aug. 13.

I expect Zach to be joining the team and remaining with the team after Rodney rejoins. If they can get his PECOTA projected 4.47 ERA the team will be pleased and this will remain a huge win over Jose Mesa.