After getting beaten up pretty bad by one of the more anemic offenses out of Oakland the Tigers made numerous roster moves to patch up a shaken bullpen. The team optioned Jordan Tata and Macay McBride to Toledo replacing them with Eulogio De La Cruz and Aquilino Lopez. Eulogio will only be with the team this evening and will be swapped with Yorman Bazardo tomorrow. I’m not sure the reasoning for this move though Bazardo has been utilized as a starter in Toledo and De La Cruz provides a needed fresh arm tonight.

No word yet on who will be replacing Jordan Tata in the rotation but it won’t be Bazardo, though he was being used as a starter in Toledo. Both Bazardo and Lopez could bring some much needed stability to the bullpen if they can replicate any amount of their success with the Mud Hens at this level.

Aquilino Lopez has been on a a bit of a streak in Toledo not allowing any runs since July 26th and no walks since July 20th while striking out 8. He’s been coming out of the bullpen in Toledo and usually kept to single-inning outings though can go longer if needed. He is holding right handed batters to a .175 average and lefties to .268.

Bazardo could fill the much needed role of long-relief. The Tigers currently do not have a pitcher in the ‘pen who can consistently be used for 2 or 3 innings. This has particularly needed recently with the teams starters rarely lasting past the 5th inning. Bazardo has pitched 8 or more innings in his last 3 starts with the Hens and pitched a full 9 on July 28th.

According to Jason Beck, these are short-term moves:

These are not long-term moves to shift around bullpen, but moves to get fresh arms available. As Leyland put it, “We need to get by today and tomorrow.”

But with the way pitching is going right now, these two have a chance to prove they deserve to stay with the big league team. I hope they do at least since we all know what McBride can show as he has posted a 6.11 ERA since joining the team and has actually been less effective against lefties (.263) than right handed batters (.254).