Dawel Lugo called up from Triple-A Toledo

The injury bug just won’t back off the Detroit Tigers in recent weeks. Miguel Cabrera, Leonys Martin and Jordan Zimmermann have all been sidelined with minor injuries, leaving an already thin lineup and rotation even weaker. Cabrera and Martin should work their way back into the Tigers lineup this week if everything goes according to plan. But the lineup will need the help, as you can now you can add Jeimer Candelario to the list of walking wounded.

The Tigers’ third baseman has been dealing with a ligament issue in his left wrist since last season, before the Tigers even acquired him from the Chicago Cubs. An MRI on Sunday showed nothing serious according to MLB.com’s Jason Beck, but Candelario will take 10 days to rehab the wrist and try to alleviate some of the pain and irritation that grew more potent in recent weeks.

His wrist has Trianglular Fibrocartilage Complex, as head athletic trainer Doug Teter classified it, and it’s a fairly common ligament injury among hitters. The ligament is critical when the wrist rotates in the swing. Former Tigers All-Star Carlos Guillen dealt with it for much of his career.

As a result, Dawel Lugo has been called up from Toledo to take Candelario’s place. Lugo had played second base almost exclusively since coming over to Detroit in the J.D. Martinez trade. However, over the past week the Tigers have gotten him reps at third base in anticipation of this move. Lugo has the arm strength to play the position, and switched to second base last year mainly to avoid being blocked by Candelario.

So far, through 33 games, it’s been a somewhat ugly start to the 2018 campaign for Lugo. The Tigers 12th ranked prospect according to MLB Pipeline, Lugo is batting .284 for the Mud Hens, but it’s a completely empty average with only one walk and very little extra base power. Lugo will presumably split time with Pete Kozma at third base in Candelario’s stead.