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September 1st has arrived, which means an influx of Mud Hens to an expanded major league roster.
John Wagner, Mud Hens beat writer for the Toledo Blade, has the scoop as to the September call ups. To paraphrase from a quite famous movie, the Tigers have rounded up the usual suspects.
Last baseball tweet 4 while ...
— JWagnerBlade (@jwagnerblade) September 1, 2012#Tigers to call up@mudhens Danny Worth, Ryan Raburn, Bryan Holaday, Don Kelly, Luis Marte, Al Albuquerque
The Detroit Tigers organization has confirmed the report.
Raburn activated from DL. Holaday, Marte & Worth recalled from Toledo. Kelly purchased from Toledo.
— Brian Britten (@BBritten_Tigers) September 1, 2012#tigers
On the eve of expanded rosters, the Tigers promoted outfielder Avisail Garcia on Friday after their trade of Jeff Baker to the Braves. While making the announcement on Garcia, Dave Dombrowski confirmed Al Albuquerque would be one of the September call ups.
Save for the injured Albuquerque, all of the promoted players have spent time on the Tigers' roster in 2012.
Worth is being called up for...even Worth has lost track at this point. His last demotion was due to the Tigers acquiring Omar Infante at the non-waiver trade deadline. When not on I-75, Worth spent most of his time at 2nd base, barely keeping his average over the Mendoza line, hitting .206 in 36 games.
Raburn, the fan base's favorite whipping boy, was hitting .172 with 1 HR and 12 RBI when he was placed on the DL in early August. He has spent the past couple of weeks with the Mud Hens on an injury rehab assignment, hitting like Babe Ruth and Ted Williams reincarnated, a robust .444 in 7 games.
Holoday spent a 2 weeks with the Tigers in June, backing up Gerald Laird after Alex Avila was placed on the 15-day DL. Holaday hit .300 in 4 games, 3 of them starts.
Marte had made the team out of spring training, but an injury derailed the Tigers' plans. Marte rejoined the Tigers in late May, appearing mostly in mop up duty. Before he was sent down in mid-July, Marte posted a 3.63 ERA in 10 relief appearances. What's interesting is the Tigers lost 9 of those games.
It was thought Kelly's 4 year Tigers career as a jack of all trades utility man was over when he was designated for assignment on August 3rd after hitting .175 in 64 games. But he passed through waivers, and accepted an assignment to Toledo. The Wizard hit .233 in 20 games for the Mud Hens. His ability to play anywhere on the field will make Jim Leyland, who broke down when talking about letting Kelly go, a very happy manager.
The real surprise is relief pitcher Bruce Rondon is not one of the call ups. Rondon rocketed through the Tigers' system this season, starting the year with Single A Lakeland, then being promoted to Double A Erie and Triple A Toledo, along with an appearance in the Futures Game at the All-Star break. Rondon posted a 2.56 ERA and 28 saves in 51 games between the 3 stops.
The other semi-surprise is reliever Duane Below not returning to the big club after spending most of the season in the Tigers' bullpen.
If you want to compare our managing editor's call up predictions with today's roster expansion, check out this post. Kurt came pretty damn close.
Let me add one more thing. It's official. Nick Castellanos will not be a Tiger this season.