Tigers' Bruce Rondon experiences lingering soreness, setback to return

DETROIT -- Bruce Rondon's recovery from biceps tendinitis is being slowed down after he experienced soreness during a BP session to live hitters in Lakeland on May 1. The Detroit Tigers sent Rondon for an MRI as a result, which confirmed the initial diagnosis.

"It doesn't really bother him to throw, but he's sore after the fact," manager Brad Ausmus said. "It's a little bit of a mystery. That's part of the reason we have him up here, so we have eyes on him."

Following the MRI, the Tigers were told that Rondon's shoulder looked "very good," so at this point the next step is to just continue the program. That included a light toss Friday afternoon with the hope that the soreness will dissipate while allowing his shoulder to strengthen.

In a way, Rondon is between a rock and a hard place. He stretched out to a degree, but he's also reaching that point where he's "maybe" back to square one. However, it's not to the same extreme as a starting pitcher (like Justin Verlander) and Rondon's recovery from start to major league ready is a quicker process. Once Rondon can pitch an inning and make back-to-back outings, he would be deemed major league ready.

As for Jose Iglesias, he is out of the lineup for the second consecutive day after his groin tightened up on him again, which occurred in Kansas City on Wednesday. When scoring from second base on Victor Martinez's RBI single in the eighth inning, Iglesias pulled up from a full sprint about 3/4 of the way home, grimacing.

While Iglesias told Ausmus and head athletic trainer Kevin Rand he would be fine, the muscle continued to bother him the next day, so he's being held out of the lineup for at least the next couple of days.

"I haven't seen Iggy today, but I wasn't going to play him today either way, even if he came in and said he's healthy," Ausmus said. "We gave him a few days last time and it popped back up, so he's gonna have to take a few days at least before we'll consider putting him back in."

Also, the Tigers transferred Joe Nathan to the 60-day disabled list on Friday, but there has not been a corresponding move.