Joel Zumaya Injury

As he rolled in agony on the Target Field turf Monday night, Tigers right-hander Joel Zumaya figured he’d just thrown his final pitch.

“I thought my career was done,” Zumaya said.

Zumaya feared he’d suffered torn ligaments in his elbow. After a medical exam on the elbow Tuesday, he learned otherwise.

As he threw that final pitch Monday, he suffered a broken tip of his elbow — it’s called the olecranon — but he didn’t damage the ligaments.

“Really, really satisfying news,” Zumaya said. “I left it in God’s hands, and I guess He gave me another blessing that I don’t need (any ligament surgery).”

Head athletic trainer Kevin Rand said: “This is probably the best-case scenario we could have hoped for.”

“It is the best worst news we could have gotten,” manager Jim Leyland said. It’s possible that further tests will show that Zumaya needs surgery, Rand said.

In the more encouraging scenario — the one to which Zumaya has subscribed — the break will heal in four months without surgery and Zumaya will return in spring training.

Zumaya’s mood Tuesday wasn’t one of disappointment, of someone who’s done for this season, but of someone determined to pitch next season.

“I know it’s going to take four months to heal,” he said. “It’s not 12 months. I’m a hardworking guy. I won’t give up.

“I’ve got a son (born last year) who I want to see me play baseball, so I’m not going to give it up.”

This becomes the fourth straight year that Zumaya’s season has been significantly shortened by injury. He hasn’t had a full season of health since his standout rookie season of ’06.

“I worked too hard for this to happen,” said Zumaya, 25. “All I wanted was one full year of health.”

With no guarantee of a job entering spring training this year, Zumaya returned from shoulder surgery in August to regain a key late-inning role in the bullpen. He was throwing 100 m.p.h. regularly this season, just as in ’06.

When he got hurt Monday night on his pitch to Delmon Young, he was protecting an eighth-inning lead with first place at stake.

“It felt like my elbow exploded,” Zumaya said. “Crying in front of 40,000 people is pretty weak. But it’s a lot of pain, and I felt like I had no one on my side.

“But when those (fans) got up on their feet and started cheering, and then the entire team was comforting me after the game, it meant a lot to me. I’m happy that I still have a chance, and hopefully things will go the way I want.”