Infante bound for DL; Perez recalled
Sprained left ankle sidelines infielder; fill-in leads Eastern League in hits
DETROIT -- Despite Omar Infante's best attempts to make it back into the Tigers lineup over the weekend, he'll have to settle for a stint on the 15-day disabled list because of a sprained left ankle.
Infante was placed on the DL retroactive to Thursday, when he sustained the injury on a hard slide by the Blue Jays' Colby Rasmus. Manager Jim Leyland said it made sense to place Infante on DL since he's eligible to return on July 19, which lines up with the team's first game to begin the season's second half.
"He'll be ready to go [after the All-Star break]," Leyland said. "It's just still lingering and pretty sore. He's not going to be ready for at least three days, and we've only got six more [games before the All-Star break], so why not get him all the way back?"
The Tigers recalled Double-A second baseman Hernan Perez, who leads the Eastern League in hits (108) and doubles (28), and is second in stolen bases (24). Perez appeared in two games for the Tigers last summer, going 1-for-2 with a run scored.
"I've seen him enough to know he's a really talented kid, and he's got real good instincts," Leyland said. "I like him a lot. I have liked him a lot, and I hope I like him a lot the next few days."
Perez was sitting in bed after Monday's game against Altoona when he got a phone call from Erie manager Chris Cron.
"He called me and told me, 'I got good news for you, what do you think?'" Perez said, "and I said, 'Maybe bigs?' and he was like, 'Yes, you're going to the bigs tomorrow.' That felt pretty good."
Perez celebrated with his wife before flying into Detroit on Tuesday and arriving in the clubhouse at 3:30 p.m. ET. He played 11 games with the Tigers in Spring Training this season, and he says the experience has made him a better player.
"I'm having a good time at Double-A, I'm having better at-bats," Perez said. "I was working with my strike zone, selecting good pitches to hit, and I think I was doing well."
The Tigers signed Perez as a non-drafted free agent in 2007, and he's ranked as the No. 12 prospect in the club's farm system by MLB.com. He was slotted to hit eighth and play second base for the Tigers in Tuesday's game against the White Sox.