Detroit Tigers: Julio Teheran down, Alex Lange gets the call up

The Detroit Tigers announced today that Julio Teheran will be on the DL with a right shoulder strain and that reliever Alex Lange will get the call up from the taxi squad and join the team down in Cleveland.

For more on Alex Lange, I would highly suggest checking out the write-up Kellen did a few weeks ago, breaking down Lange’s arsenal of pitches.

For the Tigers, this comes at the worst time as they head out for their first road trip of the season without the veteran starter however, based on two recent developments for Detroit, they may be able to weather this out for a bit.

1. Michael Fulmer’s bullpen appearance

As a collective, you have to give props to the Detroit Tigers bullpen’s performance from last night. Derek Holland got unlucky in the first when a Jose Ramirez grounder up the middle in the first that could have been an inning-ending double play resulted instead of a single after it bounced off the second base bag that set up the first of two Framel Reyes home runs on the evening.

After a 1.1 of scoreless relief from Buck Farmer, Michael Fulmer kept the Tigers in the game with 4 innings of work, his longest outing since before he had Tommy John surgery and you will have to go back to September 9, 2018, against St.Louis. Last season, due to coming back from surgery, the Tigers limited him to three innings per start. With that stretching out of Fulmer, manager A.J Hinch now has the option to start him in five days if he so chooses.

2. Spencer Turnbull is set to return

Spencer Turnbull is getting the start down in South Bend against the Cubs alternate site squad today which means he will be set to join the rotation soon.  With Fulmer’s performance, the Tigers could go with a six-man rotation or possibly have Jose Urena go down to the bullpen, which he did last year in Miami.

Low-risk, high reward

The Tigers signed Teheran to a minor league deal, which was for $3 million dollars with up to $1 million in incentives, which can work out well for Detroit but follows a strange trend in recent free-agent pitcher signings when it comes to trips to the IL.

• 8/15/2020: Ivan Nova-Right triceps tendinitis
• 4/7/2019: Matt Moore-Right knee strain
• 5/13/2019: Tyson Ross-Right ulnar nerve neuritis

The hopeful outcome for Teheran is that it’s nothing major and the Tigers can have them come back to the rotation.