Friday, July 1, 2011

Seeking bullpen relief, Tigers recall Brayan Villarrel and send Daniel Schlereth to Toledo

brayan-villarreal-mug.jpgBrayan VillarrealDETROIT -- The Detroit Tigers have recalled right-handed relief pitcher Brayan Villarreal from Triple-A Toledo in an attempt to bolster an otherwise taxed bullpen.

In the corresponding move, the club optioned left-handed reliever Daniel Schlereth to the Mud Hens, one day after he allowed two grand slams in 1 1/3 innings of the Tigers' 14-3 loss to the New York Mets on Tuesday.

Detroit also lost 16-9 on Wednesday, and has used every relief pitcher except closer Jose Valverde and setup man Joaquin Benoit at least once in the past two days.

Tigers manager Jim Leyland stressed the move is being made out of necessity, not choice.

"(The move) was not planned prior to the game," he said. "(Schlereth) is kind of the victim of the circumstances, and we have to have a pitcher here (today) with a fresh arm.

"It won't hurt Schlereth to go down and get some work in, and we'll just take it from there."

Villarreal went 1-1 with a 6.46 ERA in 14 games with Detroit before being sent to Toledo in May. He was effective early in the season, but began to struggle with his control, precipitating his demotion.

He went 0-5 with a 4.41 ERA in seven appearances with Toledo, although those numbers are skewed by an eight-run outing Saturday.?


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