Wil

Ledezma

The Tigers don’t want to burn Ledezma’s arm out and will try to keep him around 150-160 innings this season. Ledezma has already pitched 145 innings this year, 111 2/3 at Double-A Erie and 33 1/3 with Detroit.

After Ledezma makes two more starts, he will join the Tigers’ bullpen to preserve his arm. When Ledezma’s turn in the rotation comes up, manager Alan Trammell will use a combination of relievers on the mound in what he calls a “bullpen day”.

GM Dave Dombrowski said recently that when Ledezma ''gets his curveball ready, in our estimation he’ll be ready to pitch in the big leagues.’' He could spend time with the Tigers later this season.

Ledezma returned to Detroit to be with his wife for the birth of their son. Mike Maroth and Jeremy Bonderman each move up a day.

A nice outing from Ledezma, who struck out five and walked two while yielding six hits. He departed in the sixth after a pair of two-out singles left right-hander Kelly Shoppach at the plate in a 1-0 game. Reliever Jason Grilli induced a grounder from Shoppach to end the inning and allow Ledezma to pick up a win in his first big league start since last season. Ledezma will head back to the pen if Justin Verlander is ready to go later this week, but it’s possible the left-hander will get another few starts before the season is out. He could be useful in AL-only leagues given the right matchup, so he’s someone to monitor.

Ledezma is getting called up even though he probably won’t be available to pitch for one more day after throwing seven innings on Sunday. The left-hander was 4-3 with a 2.52 ERA, 60 H and 66/23 K/BB in 71 1/3 IP for Toledo. It looks like he’ll join the pen for now, but he’ll be a candidate to make starts later on. AL-only leaguers should keep an eye on him.

The Tigers picked Zach Miner over Ledezma a couple of weeks ago, but Ledezma is probably next in line for any opening in the Detroit rotation. He’s 4-3 with a 2.52 ERA, 60 H and 66/23 K/BB in 71 1/3 IP for Toledo.

He allowed two runs before departing. Ledezma has a 3.31 ERA and a 49/15 K/BB ratio in 49 innings for Toledo.

The Tigers gave some thought to calling up Ledezma to replace Mike Maroth in the rotation. Instead, they chose Roman Colon, who was hit hard by the Yankees on Tuesday. A change is possible now. Maroth’s turn next comes up Sunday versus Boston, and the Red Sox haven’t fared well versus southpaws.

Ledezma had struggled as a reliever recently, but the White Sox offense couldn’t do much against him, coming up with five singles and no walks. Ledezma remains a poor bet in AL-only leagues.