Brandon Inge Activated From Disabled List By Tigers After Bout With Mono

Earlier in the season, Tigers third baseman Brandon Inge was posting some low offensive numbers that were low even for him. There was talk that something was wrong, and there was talk that nothing was wrong and that Inge had simply gotten worse. Then, on June 3, Inge was promptly placed on the disabled list with mononucleosis. It was a surprising diagnosis, to say the least.

At that point, there was no telling how much time Inge would have to miss. Mono can be kind of like a concussion, where it can take anywhere from days to months to recover. But Inge was involving himself in practice not long after going on the DL, and on Thursday, he's been activated after a brief minor league rehab assignment.

Inge batted 7-for-28 with triple-A Toledo, with two home runs. However, he returns to a .565 major league OPS on the year, and while that might've been tied to his illness, he'll probably have to fight for time with Don Kelly until he proves that he's all or most of the way back to being himself.

Danny Worth was optioned to Toledo to make roster room.

Brandon Inge Has Mono, Lands On DL

Tigers third baseman Brandon Inge has had an ugly go of it this year, with a paltry .565 OPS through nearly 200 trips to the plate. Inge has never been a terrific hitter, but this level of play is still uncharacteristic, and maybe, just maybe, we've now gotten our explanation. Via Jason Beck:

#Tigers announce Brandon Inge on 15-day DL with mono. Omir Santos called up from Toledo.

Mononucleosis, of all things. We don't know how bad Inge has it, or for how long Inge has had it, but intuitively it makes sense that fighting a major illness would pull down a guy's numbers. The mono could also be unrelated, but I choose to see the best in people and give them the benefit of the doubt. It's just my sunny personality.

Whenever I hear about mono, I think back to Casey Kotchman's 2006. Kotchman contracted mono during the winter, hit an empty .152 for the first month of the year, then went on the DL with the illness and didn't come back that season. He rebounded to have a big 2007, but the mono was by no means a short-term problem, and Inge could be staring at a long time on the sidelines.

Don Kelly has started seven games at third this season, and may be first in line to take Inge's place. Santos is a catcher with a .658 OPS in AAA.