Casper Wells Returning to Tigers

As noted on Jason Beck’s blog yesterday, the Tigers will be recalling OF Casper Wells from AAA this afternoon and he will be available to play this evening when the Tigers take on the Royals.

Wells came up earlier in the year for the Tigers and appeared in four games. He wasn’t hitting much for the MudHens when he was last recalled, but this time around he’s on fire. Wells is hitting .354 this month and has a 1.294 OPS since August 1. In the season’s second half, Wells has hit .295 and has an OPS of 1.040.

Wells was a star in the Arizona Fall League last autumn after a huge season for AA Erie last summer. There is no word yet on who will be sent down to allow room for Wells on the roster, but Beck says there isn’t a trade on the horizon so this should be a straight roster move. The Tigers have been carrying an eight man bullpen and would like to get back down to seven.

The question comes up every time one of these moves are made: Is this the end of the road for Brad Thomas? Thomas has no options left and is taking up space in the Tigers bullpen. Sure, he’s been better than some out there, but he’s not young and he is what he is at this point. Wouldn’t the team be better served by allowing one of the kids to stick around and learn on the job?

Of course, they’ll probably wind up keeping Thomas and sending down either Alfredo Figaro or Enrique Gonzalez. Figaro has made just one appearance with the Tigers since being recalled last week and he worked effectively in one inning. Perhaps his effort yesterday will earn him another shot. One thing is for sure, Gonzalez, Figaro, and Eddie Bonine all serve the same purpose, so having three right handed middle relievers that you only want to use in lopsided games is overkill.

While I would like to see Thomas DFA’d here, I’m guessing Gonzalez is the guy who gets the boot.