The Tigers have made it official that phenom rookie reliever Al Alburquerque is headed to the 15-day disabled list with "right forearm flexor mass inflammation." They've called up Lester Oliveros to fill his spot on the active roster.

John Wagner of the Toledo Blade first reported Thursday night that the Tigers had promoted the fireballing youngster Oliveros from Triple-A Toledo, and replaced him on the Mud Hens roster with Chance Ruffin from Double-A Erie.

Fox Sports' Jon Paul Morosi later reported that the Tigers had placed Alburquerque on the disabled list. Alburquerque struggled through 42 pitches in 1 1/3 innings in Detroit's 16-9 loss to the Mets Wednesday.

Oliveros is a fireballer with a mid-90s fastball and control issues (his WHIP at Toledo was 1.54), but he was 2-0 with a 0.56 ERA and a K/BB ratio of 27/4 at Erie before earning his last promotion. Ruffin was one of the Tigers' two supplemental first-round draft picks in 2010. He had a 2.12 ERA in 34 innings at Erie, limiting opposing hitters to a .190 average.

Alburquerque leads all American League relievers with 14.59 strikeouts per nine innings, and is tied for the AL lead in relief wins (5). He has stranded 21 of 23 inherited runners and allows opponents to hit just .147 against him — second-best among AL relievers.

"He was a godsend. If it wasn’t for Alburquerque, we’d be six or seven games less than we are right now," manager Jim Leyland said last weekend of the rookie who has taken a lot of the high-leverage innings late in ballgames this year.
"You could make a case for — without getting carried away — you could make a case for obviously (Justin) Verlander, obviously (Jose) Valverde. But you could make a case for Alburquerque after that being our most valuable pitcher up to this point."

The Tigers had hopes that Joel Zumaya and Ryan Perry would be able to handle that seventh-inning role this season, but injuries and inefficiency has precluded either pitcher from stepping forward, forcing the Tigers to turn to Alburquerque.

"We’re Zumaya-less, obviously, and we were basically Perry-less, so this was a godsend. This has turned out to be a great sign. And I thought it was a great sign when I saw him in spring training, but I wasn’t sure what would happen," Leyland said. "When I saw him in spring training, I thought ‘Wow. This is some kind of slider with some kind of arm.’ I don’t know if he’ll throw it in the ocean. But he's been fantastic. He's saved us."

Alburquerque's disabled list stint is retroactive to June 30, making him eligible to come off the DL on July 15, for the Tigers' first game after the All-Star break, the start of a three-game series in Chicago.

In other injury news, Carlos Guillen's injury rehab assignment was transferred from Class A Lakeland to Triple-A Toledo. That's a good sign for the likelihood of him coming back sooner rather than later, since it's likely more about timing rather than health at this point.

In an announcement that surprised absolutely no one, the Detroit Tigers confirmed on Tuesday that second baseman Carlos Guillen and relief pitcher Joel Zumaya won't be ready for Opening Day.
No more surprising were any of the 18 cuts that the Tigers made this morning, once the extra dozen and a half players were no longer needed for their slew of split-squad games.
In the second week of his enforced layoff from pitching prescribed by noted orthopedic surgeon Dr. James Andrews, Zumaya is still dealing with setbacks after elbow surgery last season. Scar tissue tore loose during the early portion of camp, causing inflammation in Zumaya's surgically-repaired joint.
His absence means the Tigers will still be searching for an arm to handle the bullpen's seventh-inning duties, setting up offseason acquisition Joaquin Benoit and closer Jose Valverde.
The likely candidates for the role now are lefties Daniel Schlereth, Charlie Furbush and non-roster invitee Fu-Te Ni, and right-handers Robbie Weinhardt and Al Albuquerque.
Tigers manager Jim Leyland said last week that there are no players in the organization or available for trade that could replace a "healthy Joel Zumaya," with the emphasis on healthy. As we all know, Zumaya hasn't been that too often since his ballyhooed debut in 2006.
Leyland has also stated repeatedly that Guillen would be his starting second baseman, if healthy, but with the veteran just beginning baserunning activities last week, it appears less and less likely that his rehab from season-ending microfracture knee surgery will permit him back on the field full-time until after the start of the season.
That leaves the starting battle between last year's Opening Day starter at second, Scott Sizemore, and Will Rhymes, the most effective of the many players who filled the position last season. Danny Worth is probably a distant third at this point.
In their cuts Tuesday, the Tigers sent much-heralded pitching prospects Andy Oliver to Triple-A Toledo and Jacob Turner to Double-A Erie. Joining Oliver with the Mudhens are right-handers Lester Oliveros and Jose Ortega and lefty Duane Below, along with shortstops Audy Ciricao and Cale Iorg and first baseman Ryan Strieby.
Also sent down to the minor league camp at Tigertown were the heralded group of young catchers, including Leyland's son, Patrick, Rob Brantly, Bryan Holaday, John Murrian and Omir Santos. Pitchers Chris Oxpring and John Bale, infielders Brandon Douglas and outfielders Avisail Garcia and Ben Guez were the other cuts.