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Avisail Garcia is sidelined indefinitely while recovering from a heel contusion, Tigers trainer Kevin Rand told reporters Sunday morning. The 22-year-old outfielder had slim hopes at making the team out of spring training anyway, despite being on the postseason roster last October, but likely figures into being a contributor at the big league level later in the season.
Garcia suffered the injury while trying to beat out a ground ball, MLB.com's Jason Beck wrote. Garcia later could be seen in a walking boot and crutches, the reporter added.
Even though X-rays were negative, Garcia was more than "day-to-day" and no set timetable for his recovery, Rand said. Garcia will return to action when the symptoms were no longer present.
Garcia hit .312/333/.455 (for a .789 OPS) with Advanced-A Lakeland and Double-A Erie. He played in 23 games with the Tigers after a September call-up, he hit .319/.373/.319 (.692).
Neither Garcia nor 20-year-old outfielder Nick Castellanos will likely make the big league roster, because both have areas of their games that need further work. But it is easy to imagine either or both getting callups in 2013 if there are any injuries to the team's key outfielders -- just so long as neither are traded first.
