Five Potential September Call Ups for the Detroit Tigers

June 19, 2013; Detroit, MI, USA; Detroit Tigers relief pitcher Darin Downs (38) pitches in the seventh inning against the Baltimore Orioles at Comerica Park. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports

Darin Downs

Jim Leyland will, in all liklihood, be taking a LOOGY with one of the spots on the postseason roster. Odds are that it will be Phil Coke, but, like Alvarez, Downs could also be in the mix here. Downs is another guy that should absolutely not pitch to right handed batters (unless we’re talking low leverage situations), but he’s been pretty good at getting left-handed hitters out in his career (.253 OBP against). I think there’s a part of Leyland that still sees Phil Coke as a potential seventh or eighth inning pitcher, but he’s simply not that, and he’s not even a very good LOOGY. I would rather see Downs called into an ALCS game to to face David Ortiz than Coke.

Alvarez and Downs aren’t the only pitchers we could see in September (Luke Putkonen and Evan Reed both also come to mind), but I think they’re the only two who could be coming up that also have a shot to keep playing come October.