Tigers reliever Joel Zumaya will undergo surgery to repair a ruptured tendon in his right middle finger, forcing him out of action for what is expected to be 12 weeks.

The news came from the club following a visit with hand specialist Dr. Charles Melone on Monday in New York. Dr. Melone will perform the procedure on Thursday. The projected timetable would put Zumaya on track to return around late July.

It was the expected scenario coming out of Zumaya's freak injury Saturday night, when he felt a pop in the finger on two different pitches while throwing in the bullpen during a game against the Royals at Kansas City. Zumaya originally thought he had dislocated the finger, but the sharp pain continued all the way into Sunday afternoon. The finger wasn't dislocated, but the tendon was damaged.

It marks the first major arm injury of the 22-year-old's career. He had three stints on the disabled list in the Minor Leagues for back and shoulder spasms, most recently in September 2004. He missed time last season for discomfort in his wrist, an injury that was eventually tied with video-game habits, but it never forced him onto the DL.

The injury also becomes the first major blow to a bullpen that has become a late-inning force in the American League on the strength of Zumaya's 100-mph fastball. He was voted by MLB.com readers as baseball's Setup Man of the Year last season after finishing second in the American League in holds, and his 233 pitches clocked at 100 mph or faster topped the rest of the league combined.

Zumaya had a 1-1 record and 3.63 ERA in 13 appearances so far this season, striking out 17 batters over 17 1/3 innings while issuing 11 walks.

How Monday's news affects the Tigers' bullpen should be seen in the coming days this week. Manager Jim Leyland, who expected Zumaya's absence to be long, based on the team medical staff's suspicions, said Sunday that he could have different moves for a longer-term absence as opposed to a short-term loss.

For the time being, the Tigers called up right-hander Aquilino Lopez when Zumaya went on the disabled list on Saturday night. Fernando Rodney was already sharing setup work with Zumaya, and recently-activated Jose Mesa is expected to take on extra duties in the later innings.

"If this injury is more significant," Leyland said Sunday morning, "which I'm assuming it probably is, then we'll weigh all our factors on how we'll re-establish our pitching staff a little bit, whether we bring up some starter or go a different way with a reliever."

The Tigers were home for an off-day Monday before beginning a three-game series against the Mariners on Tuesday night. President/general manager Dave Dombrowski was unavailable for comment Monday.