The Tigers have announced some roster moves ahead of Saturday's game in Cincinnati. Austin Jackson has been activated from the disabled list, reliever Jose Ortega has been optioned to triple A Toledo, Jhonny Peralta has been placed on paternity leave. To replace Peralta in the infield, the Tigers have called up 21 year old infielder Hernan Perez from class A Lakeland.
Jackson was the Tigers' hottest hitter when he was placed on the 15 day DL, effective May 17, with an abdominal strain. Austin leads the Tigers with a .331 average, .441 on base percentage, and surprisingly, with an OPS of .958. He was one of the leading hitters in the American League before getting injured. Jackson also had five homers, six steals, 17 RBI and 29 runs scored in 36 games this season.
The Tigers have also placed Jhonny Peralta on paternity leave. Jhonny's wife is expecting the couple's first child, and he will join her at the family's home in Cleveland for a few days. To replace Peralta, the Tigers have called up infielder Hernan Perez, a 21 year old second baseman from advanced A Lakeland. Perez was the only infielder, not counting Ryan Raburn, that was on the 40 man roster but not on the major league roster. Perez is profiled in a separate story. A player can be on paternity leave for up to three days, so this figures to be a brief call up for Perez.
Ortega made his major league debut in the eighth inning on Friday with the Tigers holding a one run lead and the tying run was on second base. He promptly gave up a game tying double, and will take that experience with him back to the minors and await another opportunity.
If Perez sees any action during his call up to the majors, he will be the 40th player, and the 25th position player to play in a game for the Tigers this season.
ADD: One minor note- Omir Santos refused an outright assignment back to Toledo, and has opted to become a free agent.