Brayan Villarreal News

Eligible to to be recalled after being sent down on May 11, Luke Putkonen will be added to the Tigers' roster before the start of Tuesday's game with the Indians.

Tigers prospect Kyle Lobstein, a Rule 5 pick last December, is 5-2 with a 3.14 ERA for the Double A Seawolves.

Jose Valverde has three saves in four opportunities this season. Is he the answer as the closer for the Detroit Tigers? The Detroit Tigers have done their fair share of bullpen shuffling already this season.

Al Alburquerque struck out one and walked one batter in a brief outing Wednesday night.

The decision to skip Rick Porcello's turn in the rotation this week is puzzling, given the teams that the Tigers are scheduled to face in the near future.

Catcher Bryan Holaday could be any team's backup today and has a chance at becoming a regular.

With 32, Prince Fielder, left, trails only Miguel Cabrera in RBIs, while Austin Jackson, right, leads the major leagues in runs .

This came up during batting practice Saturday at Minute Maid Park. Cabrera was feeling particularly limber and was putting on a show, driving a couple of pitches above and beyond the sheer beige arches in deep left field and out of the stadium.

Ortega had his second consecutive impressive outing and Putkonen pitched well and earned his first career victory in his season debut Thursday night in a 7-3 victory over the Houston Astros .

Major league bullpens can be unpredictable. Injuries can decimate a pitching staff.

A week ago, it looked like the Tigers were recalling their closer from the minor leagues.

April 25, 2013; Detroit, MI, USA; Detroit Tigers relief pitcher Phil Coke pitches in the ninth inning against the Kansas City Royals at Comerica Park.

The Tigers sure made people feel a lot better about their start to the season with a 4-1 record this week against the Kansas City Royals and Atlanta Braves.

After Thursday's bullpen failure and Kansas City grand slam, a few numbers of note about the Tigers' pitching staff: THEY HAVE FIVE PITCHERS with ERAs over 8.00, four relievers and Rick Porcello.

Tigers manager Jim Leyland said he had a "very cordial and very nice and very simple and very honest" meeting with Brayan Villarreal upon his option to Triple-A Toledo on Tuesday night.

So much for the Tigers holding onto lefty swingman Duane Below. The Miami Marlins claimed the 27-year-old on waivers Thursday and optioned him to Triple-A New Orleans.

As of Tuesday, the 2013 MLB season has already seen 17 postponements of games, many of them due to ice cold conditions.

Justin Upton is still hitting, they're still winning and they still have Craig Kimbrel and the rest of the teams in the National League don't. The Braves are 9-0 when Upton homers.

The old closer, Jose Valverde, now is the Tigers' new closer, the ballclub announced following Tuesday night's rainout at Comerica Park.

Relief prospect Bruce Rondon will join the Tigers bullpen but won't be closing games out, at least initially.