DETROIT -- Anibal Sanchez will begin his career as a relief pitcher this week, and he won't be getting much time to adjust to the new role.
Brad Ausmus said before Monday's game that Sanchez will be activated on Tuesday and will pitch out of the bullpen for the rest of the season. With only a week left in the regular season and no chance for rehab outings, Sanchez won't have any way of building up his arm enough to pitch as a starter.
"I think he can fill a number of roles for us," Ausmus said. "Depending on how deep the starter went, he could probably pitch the sixth and the seventh. Or he could pitch the seventh and the eighth. His stuff is that good. I really wouldn't be afraid to use him at any point of the game."
The 30-year-old, who has been sidelined since early August with a pectoral strain, hasn't pitched in relief since July 1, 2006 -- the second game of his career. For that reason, the Tigers will try to give him extra time to warm up for his debut, but that's the only concession he should expect.
"We'll try to give him as much as notice as possible, but we won't know before the game," Ausmus said. "The object at this point is to win, so we don't have the luxury of telling him that he's going to pitch on Wednesday. The game is going to determine that."
With Sanchez a new option in the late innings, Joakim Soria's role might get even more muddled. Ausmus stressed again that, despite mixed results from Joba Chamberlain and Joe Nathan and Soria's history as an All-Star closer, he isn't planning to alter his late-inning setup.
"I've thought about that, but I've thought a lot of things," Ausmus said. "Chamberlain and Nathan have done well in the second half. Chamberlain's done pretty well all year, but it has been a little rougher in the second half, and Joe's gotten his saves in the second half."
That would leave Sanchez and Soria, undoubtedly two of the most talented pitchers in Detroit's bullpen, competing for relief innings with Phil Coke, Al Alburquerque and Blaine Hardy, among others.
