DETROIT — Of the top two young middle infielders in the Detroit Tigers system, Hernan Perez was not the first one to get the call-up to the majors this season, and take a turn in the shortstop carousel.

But he might get a start before Euenio Suarez does.

Here’s why:

Suarez was called up Wednesday afternoon, and made his big-league debut later that night, winding up hurting his knee in his first at-bat.

Earlier in the game, starter Andrew Romine partially dislocated his shoulder on a diving defensive play.

With Suarez unable to take his scheduled start Thursday, that left the Tigers with Don Kelly, who has a total of 20 big-league innings (two starts) at shortstop on his resume, as the backup shortstop for the game.

He was on deck when the game ended, meaning he’d have gone out to short for the first time since 2007, if the Tigers had tied it up.

“We were down to our last out, so I don’t know that I’d want to throw Donnie out there for multiple innings, if I can possibly avoid it, so pinch-hitting earlier was a bigger risk,” manager Brad Ausmus, who wouldn’t tip which way he was leaning for Friday’s game. “Well, you certainly don’t generally want to run a team out there with a couple of people who can play shortstop. We’ll have to re-evaluate tomorrow, see how he (Suarez) feels. If it’s significantly better, great. If he doesn’t, then a decision might have to be made. No decision will be made until we talk to him tomorrow.”

While Suarez felt OK after Wednesday’s game, he was limping around the clubhouse Thursday morning. The team sent him for an MRI.

“The news was generally good. We’re hoping it’ll just be a few days,” Ausmus said. “Because of the position, obviously, we’ll have to see how he feels in the morning. But they don’t feel it’s major structural damage.”

That’s a lot the same diagnosis made on Romine’s shoulder. He said he felt it pop out when he landed awkwardly on a diving play. He stayed on the ground for several minutes, clearly in pain.

“I thought I broke something, for sure,” Romine said. “I wasn’t sure what I did, but I wanted to make sure nothing was broken before I tried to push off on it.”

Romine went for X-rays, which found no structural damage. He tested the shoulder, swinging right-handed (the biggest concern with a left shoulder injury) before acknowledging he could start Thursday’s game.

“I’ll play as much as I can,” said Romine, still clearly in pain, after the game.

If either Romine or Suarez can't go, don't be surprised if someone goes to the disabled list, and the Tigers call up Perez to cover themselves.

No matter the solution the Detroit Tigers have tried at shortstop this season, they’ve never acted like they were permanently married to it.

They traded a pair of players to acquire Andrew Romine and Alex Gonzalez, releasing the latter after just nine games. Danny Worth has gotten a shot — but not an endorsement.

And now — the same day that free-agent Stephen Drew re-signed with the Boston Red Sox — the next two who might get a chance to fill that gap for the Tigers might both be at Triple-A Toledo.

Eugenio Suarez was promoted after Tuesday’s game, going from Double-A Erie to the Mud Hens, where he’ll pair with Hernan Perez.

Manager Brad Ausmus told reporters he was “very satisfied” with the play of his current shortstops, despite the fact that the position had produced a combined batting average of .189, a slugging percentage of .220 and an OPS of .470.

Suarez went 3-for-5 in the Seawolves’ 7-6 loss Tuesday, driving in three runs, and hitting his 14th double. In 42 games, he hit .284, slugged .503 and posted an .850 OPS. Dixon Machado was sent to Erie in the corresponding move.

Worth got the nod over either Suarez or Perez when Gonzalez was released, primarily because the Tigers didn’t want to force either of them into a platoon situation.

“Hopefully this combination will help us, and we can continue to analyze our situation. We’ve got, again, two young guys that we’re just not quite ready to bring up and ready to let them play, but they’re playing very, very well for us,” Tigers general manager Dave Dombrowski said at the time.

“It gives them an opportunity to continue to play on day-in, day-out basis, which we think will benefit our organization in the long run.”

The long run may not be that far off, at this point.