BP's Tigers Health Report Comes Down to 'If'

As you know if you're a regular Baseball Prospectus reader, the crew publishes annual Team Health Reports before the season.  Brad Wochomurka authored this year's report for the Detroit Tigers, which is now available.  (I'm about a week late with this.  Sorry about that, Brad.)

If you're familiar with the reports, you know that red dots signify injury risks on a roster, and there are many Tigers players with red next to their names.  (Seven, to be exact.  Compare that to four last year.)  But would you believe Jeremy Bonderman gets a yellow?

Basically, Wochomurka confirms the prevalent fears over just how precariously the Tigers are positioned this season.  And he probably sums it up best in his opening paragraph:

Since their near-perfect record for team-wide health health during the World Series run of 2006, the Tigers have spent the last two seasons scrambling to fill holes created by injuries—especially to their pitching staff. The key word in Detroit this spring seems to be "if."

Maybe "If" should've been the slogan for this season, instead of "Always a Tiger."  (Not as catchy, perhaps, but definitely succinct.) 

Also included in the report (which is premium content at BP) is a reminder of just how unusual the current status of Joel Zumaya's shoulder is.  Just in case you didn't know, there's still bone floating around in there.

As always, the status of some players might surprise you.  Who's a risk?  Who actually isn't?  It's definitely worth your time to click on over and give a read.