Detroit Tigers: Alex Avila Injury Will Hamper Offense

Alex Avila has been getting banged up over the last week and now finds himself on the DL.

On May 31, the Detroit catcher was removed from the game after taking a foul ball off of his mask. Avila came back a couple games later only to fall victim to a hamstring injury.

After missing two games due to the hamstring, Avila returned to the lineup on Tuesday. He did not stay for long, as he was forced to leave in the sixth inning after aggravating the injury.

On Wednesday, the Tigers were forced to place Avila on the 15-day DL, according to Chris Iott of MLive.com. Their catching duties will now be split between Gerald Laird and Bryan Holaday, both a huge drop-off from Avila in the batting order.

Avila is currently hitting .250 with five home runs and 20 RBI in 44 games this season.

This injury further cripples the already struggling Tigers. The lineup has not been producing at all this season and its run production is a fraction of what many thought it would be coming into the year. They are in the bottom half of the MLB in runs scored this season, sitting in 16th, with 235 runs.

The loss of Avila will only make it harder for the rest of the lineup—outside of Prince Fielder and Miguel Cabrera—to get it going.

According to themajors.net, the Tigers also designated catcher Omir Santos for assignment on Wednesday.

Detroit is currently in third place in the AL Central with a disappointing 25-30 record.

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