Detroit Tigers catcher Alex Avila played his first game in his rehabilitation stint with the Triple-A Toledo Mud Hens on Monday night. He went 0-for-2 in five innings, with a fly out in the first and a strikeout in the third.
After the game, Avila said his time in the minors isn't as much about getting healthy as it is about getting ready, via Chris Iott of mlive.com.
"I knew coming into today from what I was doing in Detroit over the weekend that my hamstring was good," Avila said. "I just wanted to make sure I could get it to where I can go 100 percent not thinking about it. The reason why I'm here early is because I was able to get to that point.
"Now, it's just about getting back into a nice rhythm at the plate and seeing some pitches, taking some balls off the chest and building up some bruises and stuff like that."
Avila was placed on Detroit's disabled list on June 6 with a hamstring injury. He is set to catch five innings again on Tuesday, DH on Wednesday and return to the Tigers on Thursday.
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