In the eighth inning of the Detroit Tigers' eventual 12-1 win over the Milwaukee Brewers on Tuesday night (box score), Detroit center fielder JaCoby Jones suffered what may turn out to be a season-ending injury when he was plunked on the hand by a pitch from right-hander Phil Bickford, who was making his major league debut. Shortly thereafter, the Tigers' announced that Jones had suffered a broken left hand. According to MLive.com's Evan Woodbery, Jones is indeed done for the rest of 2020.
Here's how it happened:
Jones, who's batting .268/.333/.515 in 108 plate appearances on the season, also saw his 2019 season end after he was hit on the left wrist by a pitch on Aug. 8. As one of Detroit's most productive hitters who also mans a key defensive position, Jones has been central to the team's surprising relevance in 2020. Prior to Tuesday's game, Jones talked about his enthusiasm for playing meaningful games in Detroit this season:
Unfortunately, that wait will almost certainly continue.
As for Jones' team, five of these six consecutive wins have come against the Cubs and Twins, and with Tuesday's win the Tigers are back above .500. They started off the season 9-5, and given the expanded playoff field and shortened regular season that led to hopes that the Tigers would be surprise contenders in 2020. However, they began playing to type in the days to come and fell to a season-worst five games below .500 on Aug. 24. Then came the current streak and with in comes renewed hopes that Detroit will make the postseason for the first time since 2014 and just one year removed from a 114-loss campaign.
While the Tigers still have hope to that end, the loss of Jones is a significant blow. Compounding matters is that just prior to Monday's trade deadline, they traded veteran outfielder Cameron Maybin to the Cubs. The depth Maybin had provided would be sorely needed right now. Earlier this season, the Tigers also lost power-hitting first baseman C.J. Cron to season-ending knee surgery.