The Tigers announced a pair of corresponding roster moves this morning. Jose Urena has been added to the 10-day injured list with a right forearm strain, and infielder Zack Short has been recalled from Triple-A to take his roster spot.
It’s going to be a short stint on the IL for Urena, per Evan Woodbery of the MLive Media Group (via Twitter). It’s possible that Urena will only miss one start. The Tigers can roll with a four-man rotation for the duration of a 10-day IL stint because of a pair of off days coming up. They’ll have a rest day both before and after a four-game set with the White Sox that starts next Thursday.
Urena has a bit of a quirky profile, but he’s put together a solid 10-start stretch for the Tigers, pitching to a 4.14 ERA/3.81 FIP across 54 1/3 innings. The 29-year-old has burned worms at a career-best 54.3 percent rate and otherwise kept the ball in the ballpark with an excellent 6.8 percent HR/FB rate. Despite above-average velocity, Urena doesn’t miss many bats with just a 15.0 percent strikeout rate. He ranks just in the 8th percentile for whiff rate and sixth percentile for K-rate. Regardless, he’s been one of the Tigers’ more prolific arms this season, racking up the third highest innings total on the team.
Short returns to the big league club on his 26th birthday. The right-handed infielder has just seven career plate appearances, all coming this season. He’ll be an extra bat for potential pinch-hitting opportunities when the Tigers travel to a National League park to take on the Brewers starting on Monday. The former Cubs farmhand was hitting .227/.424/.409 through 59 plate appearances in Triple-A this season.