Morning Prowl: Inge's Left Knee, Suggesting a Diamondbat, Zumaya's Shoulder, and In Search of the D-Train

  If you missed the news before last night's game, Brandon Inge revealed that he's battling a pretty serious case of patella tendinitis that's been causing "excruciating" pain.  Inge says his patella tendon is "75% torn," while head trainer Kevin Rand describes it more as "a defect" caused by a series of micro-tears.

The question becomes how effective Inge can be while playing with such an injury.  He says he won't go on the DL unless he's assured sitting out would make the knee better and get him back in 15 days.  While it's admirable that Inge doesn't want to bail out while the team is in a playoff race (for a city and fanbase that's struggling economically), at what point does this become counter-productive?

  Carlos Guillen went 1-for-3 with two walks and a strikeout for the Mud Hens last night, batting third as the designated hitter.  (Thanks to SabreRoseTiger for linking to this in the comments of last night's recap.)

  Detroit4lyfe thinks Chad Tracy could be a low-cost bat for the Tigers to pursue.  This season for the Diamondbacks, he's hitting .222/.285/.386 with five homers and 24 RBIs, which is hardly impressive.  However, in the month of July, Tracy has a .286/.357/.429 batting line. 

He also has experience playing both corner infield and outfield spots, though he's mostly been a third baseman.  (And one of those might not be a bad idea, with Inge playing on a that partially torn left knee). 

  Ryan Strieby could be a possible trade chip for the Tigers over the next nine days, so it's good timing for The Spot Starters to take a look at his season (.305/.421/.501, 17 HR, 53 RBI) with Double-A Erie.

  Earlier in the season, Dayn Perry thought the Tigers should go after Huston Street to upgrade their closer spot.  (Colorado's not making that trade now, as they lead the NL Wild Card race.)  So we know he's no fan of Fernando Rodney.  Now, he suggests Detroit should see what it takes to get Heath Bell from San Diego.  Bell has 24 saves (in 25 chances), along with 46 strikeouts in 29.1 innings this season.

(via Scott Warheit)

  Beck also has a bit of an update on Joel Zumaya, as he and the Tigers are currently mulling over whether to rest him for a couple of weeks and try to bring him back, or to shut him down and have surgery to correct his stress fracture.  Zumaya will likely need surgery regardless.  It's now just a question of when.

  Lynn Henning attempts to investigate what is going on with Dontrelle Willis (something that's long overdue among the media that covers the Tigers, by the way) nowadays.  Currently, he's working out in Toledo, throwing on the side and pitching in simulated games, while also taking care of "off-field things." 

Henning did find out that the Tigers have to provide specific details regarding Willis's condition to the commissioner's office, rather than just say "Oh, anxiety disorder!" as a way of keeping him off the roster.

  So maybe it's a good thing that the Tigers didn't go after Juan Cruz, after all.  Hey, it seemed like a good idea at the time.