The Tigers needed to clear two spots on their 40-man roster to accommodate the additions of infielders Jeff Larish and Will Rhymes. Both were called up from Triple-A Toledo to replace Magglio Ordonez and Carlos Guillen, who were placed on the disabled list after Saturday night’s 3-2 loss to Toronto.
Starting pitcher Billy Buckner was released from Triple-A Toledo and reliever Casey Fien – who was a brief major league call-up this past week – was designated for assignment to make room for Larish and Rhymes.
Buckner, acquired from the Arizona Diamondbacks in exchange for Dontrelle Willis, posted a 3-5 record and 9.40 ERA in eight starts for the Mud Hens. Opposing batters just teed off on him, knocking 60 hits in Buckner’s 37.1 innings.
Fien was called up this week when Brandon Inge went to the DL with a broken hand. On Tuesday night, he gave up three runs (two of them home runs) in 0.2 innings of mop-up duty during Tuesday’s 8-0 loss to the Rangers.
In two appearances with Detroit this season, Fien compiled a 10.13 ERA. He was designated for assignment during Spring Training, and had brief stays in the Red Sox and Blue Jays organizations before returning to the Tigers.