The Detroit Tigers placed right-hander Spencer Turnbull on the 15-day injured list, retroactive to May 7, with neck discomfort after last week’s option to Triple-A Toledo was rescinded.
The Tigers elected last week to send Turnbull to Toledo after he went 1-4 with a 7.26 ERA in seven starts to open the season. But after a change in agents to Scott Boras this week and a neck examination by team doctors, that option now has been changed to an IL stint, and the 30-year-old will continue to accrue major league service time.
Turnbull, who missed all of last season after undergoing Tommy John surgery, first started to show outward signs of neck discomfort during an April 6 start against the Boston Red Sox when he flinched to avoid a comebacker. He made four more starts, going 1-2 with a 3.72 ERA.
The Tigers’ second-round draft pick in 2014, Turnbull is 12-29 with a 4.55 ERA in 61 appearances, all but one of which was a start. He has 280 strikeouts in 302 1/3 innings.