C.J. Cron placed on the 10-day injured list with left knee sprain

A lot of fanfare surrounded the amazing flying tagout by Daniel Norris during Monday night’s Tigers game against the Chicago White Sox, but what was missed right before was what precisely happened to C.J. Cron.

One minute he was standing at first, the next he was on the ground in agony, having taken Danny Mendick’s groundball off his shin.

The injury was obviously substantial enough for the Tigers to move Cron to the 10-day injured list, citing a left knee sprain. In a corresponding move, they have called up infielder Willi Castro from the team’s alternate training site. It remains to be seen how the team will fill the void at first base, with Niko Goodrum and Miguel Cabrera both available as potential options.

You can see both Norris’s incredible tag, as well as Cron’s exit from the game in the video below.

In additional injury news, the Tigers moved reliever Buck Farmer to the 10-day IL on Monday with a left groin strain, following an injury during Sunday’s game against the Pittsburgh Pirates. It is estimated that Farmer’s return schedule should only be around 10-14 days, which would be ideal, since he has been a solid reliever for the team this season.

In his stead, prospect Beau Burrows was brought up from the alternate training site. However as Ron Gardenhire pointed out to MLB’s Jason Beck, there’s no obvious replacement for the eighth inning slot Farmer has been filling. He said, “We’re fortunate that we have some guys throwing the ball pretty good that we can move around a little bit, but we’re going to miss Buck, because Buck’s been pretty good in that situation.”

The Tigers will hope to have both Cron and Farmer back in their lineup in the coming weeks.