Five Potential September Call Ups for the Detroit Tigers

Jul 24, 2013; Chicago, IL, USA; Detroit Tigers center fielder Austin Jackson (14) high fives shortstop Hernan Perez (26) after the game against the Chicago White Sox at U.S. Cellular Field. Tigers beat the White Sox 6-2. Mandatory Credit: Reid Compton-USA TODAY Sports

Last year the Detroit Tigers essentially called up six players when the rosters expanded last September: Avisail Garcia (he was actually called up at the end of August for reasons of postseason eligibility), Bryan Holaday, Don Kelly, Danny Worth, Al Alburquerque, and Luis Marte. Jim Leyland doesn’t like to call up extra players just to hang around, so we can expect a similar number of potentially useful players to come up this season.

By useful I don’t really mean players that will help the team win so much as players that can increase roster flexibility and help give ailing and/or veteran players a breather down the stretch (particularly Miguel Cabrera and Omar Infante). The Tigers look like they’ll be in position to wrap up the division with a week or two to play, so an extra infielder, an extra outfielder, and emergency catcher, a bullpen arm or two are probably all they need.

Here are five guys that stand a good chance of receiving the call when roster expand on September 1.

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.

Jun 30, 2013; St. Petersburg, FL, USA; Detroit Tigers starting pitcher Rick Porcello (21) talks with catcher Bryan Holaday (50) during the fourth inning as the bases are loaded against the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

Bryan Holaday

Jim Leyland is always super nervous about pinch hitting for catchers, pinch running for catchers, or using catchers as pinch hitters because he doesn’t like to be left without a viable option on his bench in case of an emergency. For that reason we can pretty much guarantee that a third catcher will be sitting on the bench come September 1. Holaday is currently active due to Alex Avila’s concussion, but he’ll either (1) come back if Avila is activated before September or (2) stay around if Avila is activated after September 1 (I fully expect option #1 to be the case). Holaday won’t be looking at much playing time, but he’ll be there for extra insurance in the event that Don Kelly pinch runs for Avila and then Brayan Pena takes a foul ball of the hand or something.

Jul 31, 2013; Detroit, MI, USA; Detroit Tigers shortstop Hernan Perez (26) hits an RBI single in the fourth inning against the Washington Nationals at Comerica Park. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports

Hernan Perez

With Omar Infante only recently back from his ankle injury and now experiencing back spasms, I think it’s 100% likely that the club will bring up at least one other infield option in order to give him (i.e. Infante) plenty of time off if it’s needed. Maybe, maybe, maybe we will also see Danny Worth, due to his ability to also play shortstop and third base (not that Perez couldn’t), but Perez has pretty clearly established himself as the next option at second base. We know that he’s not going to hit a lot, but he could occasionally pinch run or enter the game in mopup situations to help preserve Infante.

March 2, 2013; Tampa, FL, USA; Detroit Tigers outfielder Nick Castellanos (79) against the New York Yankees at George M. Steinbrenner Field. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

Nick Castellanos

The player we’ve all been waiting for will almost certainly be called up for September. Acutally, I’m almost certain that Nick Castellanos will be called up on August 31 in order to be eligible for the postseason*. The Tigers will likely look to take 14 hitters and 11 pitchers into October (because one starter will move to the bullpen so teams need one less pitcher), so one hitter who’s not currently on the active roster will earn a spot. The way I see it, that player is either Jhonny Peralta or Nick Castellanos. Hernan Perez could be an option, but he’s a poor hitter and would provide little value to a bench that already contains Don Kelly and Ramon Santiago. If I was running the club I would give strong consideration to taking both Peralta and Castellanos (and leaving Matt Tuiasosopo off), but a lot of unknowns remain before we could go down that path (How would Peralta look after all that time off? Is Castellanos ready to hit MLB pitching?).

I’m looking for Castellanos to play many or most days if/when he’s called up either as the left fielder or to spell Torii Hunter. He will not be used to spell Miguel Cabrera at third base (I’m 99.9% on this) – if the organization was planning on doing that, he would be getting playing time at third in the minors right now (and he’s not).

Castellanos isn’t yet on the 40-man roster, but I’m guessing they’ll make room for him by transferring Luis Marte to the 60-day DL. I’ll also be that they’ll make room for him on the 25-man roster by optioning Al Alburquerque on August 31 (and bring him right back the next day when roster expand).

[UPDATE:] Becuase Marte is on the DL (and will be at the end of the season), the Tigers won’t necessarily need to call up Castellanos on the 31st. They could call him up in September and still have him eligible for the postseason roster.