Tigers to give Iglesias regular days off

CLEVELAND -- Jose Iglesias arrived at Progressive Field on Saturday leading the American League in hits, but he finally slowed down. The reason wasn't the Indians' Corey Kluber, but Tigers manager Brad Ausmus.

The cautiousness with which Ausmus and the Tigers staff entered the season regarding Iglesias didn't change with his hot start. He's still going to have his workload managed to limit the wear and tear on his shins after he missed all of last season with stress fractures.

It's not a set schedule, but Ausmus isn't going to wait for a sign to tell him when Iglesias needs a break, since that might be a little late.

"We'll have to play it by ear," Ausmus said. "But he didn't complain of anything. It was just I felt like we should give him a day. And part of it is that you have to get these other guys in there."

One of those other guys was Andrew Romine, who made his first start of the season Saturday in Iglesias' place, giving the Tigers the secondary benefit of a switch-hitting bat against Kluber.

Even before the stress fractures last season, Iglesias was getting semi-regular days off. In those cases, he did have complaints of soreness in his shins, though the Tigers didn't know at the time that they were fractures.

"All guys need a rest, whether it's physical or mental," Ausmus said. "Generally with everyday players, it's more of a mental rest. In this case, it's probably erring on side of caution physically with Iggy just because he hasn't played this many games in a row before. He's coming off of a completely missed season."

Iglesias certainly has put his legs through a workout this week, going 9-for-15 with four runs scored and two stolen bases in as many attempts. In the field, he has made a few rangy plays in both directions, showing no lost steps to affect his standout defensive reputation.