Kenta Maeda to the 15-day IL with an illness, Akil Baddoo recalled from Toledo

The rumor machine kicked into high gear this afternoon when it was reported that Matt Manning, Akil Baddoo, and Jace Jung had all been scratched from Saturday’s Toledo Mud Hens contest against the St. Paul Saints. Was there a trade coming? A bout of food poisoning sweeping the Hens clubhouse?

No, it turns out that Kenta Maeda has been placed on the 15-day IL retroactive to May 8 with a viral illness, as Evan Petzold of the Freep reports.

Akil Baddoo has been recalled from Toledo to take Maeda’s spot for the moment. Matt Manning has presumably been scratched to prepare to take Maeda’s start on Monday at home against the Miami Marlins. Jace Jung is apparently available off the bench for Hens manager Tony Cappucilli, so maybe he actually is just under the weather.

Maeda didn’t look terribly good in his last outing. His performance against the Cleveland Guardians was awful, but I refer more to the fact that he was pretty sweaty and uncomfortable from the start in that outing. Something going around perhaps. Wenceel Perez was reportedly a bit under the weather as well last week.

By putting him on the 15-day IL, that opens up his next two starts at least for Manning to take over his spot in the rotation. Until Maeda gets on a more Maeda-like roll, that’s all for the best as Manning continues to pitch consistently well.

The Baddoo call-up is interesting. The outfielder was on fire in April, collecting nine extra base hits and stealing six bases while hitting .297/.404/.514 on the month. He’s cooled off over the past week but is still walking a lot without striking out too much.

I would’ve expected Gio Urshela to be the one coming up, but the Tigers apparently want to give another game or two to get on track before returning from his hamstring injury. Looks like Ryan Vilade will get two more games, though he seems the likeliest to go down when Urshela returns. Someone else will have to be swapped out for Manning with Baddoo taking Maeda’s spot for the moment. Perhaps that means just a short look for Akil Baddoo, but the Tigers are desperate for offense, so it’s up to Baddoo to show something the next few games.

Should be more roster juggling over the next few days as they set up the rotation with Manning included.