Tigers Promote Al Alburquerque, Option Robbie Weinhardt back to Toledo

Sometimes I write posts that, just from the titles, I know I'm not going to enjoy typing up. With names like Alberto Alburquerque (which I have to slowly and deliberately type each time) and Robbie Weinhardt involved, this is one of them. That's just too many surname syllables for me.

In the wake of the loses of Joel Zumaya who was projected to be the opening day 7th inning reliever, and Ryan Perry who would've shared in those duties, the team finds itself in search of reliable options out of the 'pen. So far the team has tried Daniel Schlereth, but they seem to prefer him as a left-on-lefty option, and Brayan Villarreal but they still don't seem satisfied.

Ryan Perry To DL With Infected Eye

There are some strange things that send guys to the DL, and they aren't always baseball related. In this case Tigers reliever Ryan Perry has been sent to the DL with an infected eye that apparently was brought on by issues related to allergies. The assignment is retroactive to Tuesday the 5th and in his stead the Tigers have called up prospect Robbie Weinhardt.

I didn't do a prospect profile on the 26 year old Weinhardt, but it was more a lack of time than anything else. Robbie has been a well regarded relief arm in the system for some time now and he made his big league debut last year, appearing in 28 games. During those 28 games he threw 29.1 innings, registering 6.44 K/9 and 2.45 BB/9 marks while inducing ground balls on 56% of his balls in play.

Featuring a low 90s fastball that works in the 90-92 range and a tight slider Weinhardt racked up huge strikeout rates in the lower minors, but struggled to repeat those strong peripherals last year between AAA and the Majors. Still with a 2.5/1 K/BB ratio and strong ground ball rates, he profiles as a reliable 7th inning arm.