LAKELAND, Fla. -- Another injury will cost Joel Zumaya another season.

The former Detroit Tigers reliever, now with the Minnesota Twins, cut a bullpen session short Saturday due to an apparent elbow injury. On Sunday, it was reported that Zumaya had tore his ulnar collateral ligament.

"He feels bad. I feel bad," Twins general manager Terry Ryan said. "Not the news I wanted to hear on a Sunday morning. This is a 12-month thing."

UCL injuries are repaired through Tommy John surgery. Zumaya potentially could start throwing sometime in 2013 but could also decide to retire based on the injury troubles that have plagued him for years.

Zumaya sat out the entire 2011 season after appearing in 171 games in five seasons with the Tigers. He went 6-3 with a 1.94 ERA in 62 appearances in his rookie season of 2006 but never appeared in more than 31 games for the Tigers in any of the next four seasons.

The Tigers would have welcomed Zumaya to camp as a non-roster invitee but never offered him a major-league contract during the offseason. In January, the Twins signed Zumaya to a one-year deal worth $850,000.

Zumaya's former teammates with the Tigers were saddened by the news.

"When you get hurt, there's nothing you can do," Brandon Inge said. "Your hands are tied at that point, and that's probably the most frustrating part about it. I feel bad for him. You get prepared, you feel like you're good to go and you get hurt and start the whole process all over again."

Justin Verlander crossed paths with Zumaya recently.

"I actually saw him in Orlando a few weeks ago," Verlander said. "He said he was really excited, feeling good. Even if somebody's with another team, you never want to see that. It's sad. It sucks."

Early in the day Sunday, Tigers manager Jim Leyland said he did not want want to comment about Zumaya because he did not yet know the severity of the injury. But he wished his former reliever the best.

"It'll break my heart if he's hurt again," Leyland said. "It's just been one thing after another."

Inge spoke at length about the stress Zumaya's mechanics put on his arm.

"You have to have perfect mechanics to throw that hard and stay healthy for long," Inge said. "He was talented. He could throw the ball harder than anyone that I've ever seen. But his mechanics, they are what they are -- I'm not saying it's good or bad -- but it wasn't going to be very healthy.

"If he would have stayed healthy throwing the ball as hard as he threw it, I would have been amazed."

-- Follow Chris Iott on Twitter for updates throughout spring training.