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DETROIT -- Shane Greene wasn't able to right himself at the major-league level, so now he'll have to do so in the minors.
On Friday, the Tigers optioned Greene's contract to Triple-A Toledo and recalled the contract of left-hander Ian Krol from Toledo.
"Obviously Shane pitched extremely well early, struggled a little bit lately," Tigers manager Brad Ausmus said. "I think we're hoping it's a situation where he can go back there and regain the form, regain the movement on the sinker, work on the change-up. He's got excellent stuff, he's as hard a worker as we've got in the clubhouse.
"Still think he's got an extremely bright future, so we're hoping that he goes down there, gets away from the white-hot spotlight, and gets back on track."
In Greene's first three starts, against Minnesota, Pittsburgh and the Chicago White Sox, Greene was 3-0 with an 0.39 ERA and 0.74 WHIP, allowing one earned run.
In Greene's last four starts, he's 0-4 with a 12.68 ERA.
Ausmus said pitching coach Jeff Jones would talk to Greene about specific things he needs to work on to return to form.
"I'd be shocked if he wasn't back," Ausmus said. "This guy's got really good stuff, and great makeup."
Ausmus said Kyle Ryan would start Tuesday in Greene's place, at home against the Cincinnati Reds.
Ryan is 1-0 with a 2.08 ERA and 1.15 WHIP in three games (one start) with the Tigers this season.
"He's pitched well since he's been here," Ausmus said of Ryan. "He came up in kind of an emergency situation, and pitched well enough to stick around. He's helped us. He uses his sinker well, and his cutter well. Both sides of the plates to lefties and righties. Gets a lot of ground balls."
FOX Sports' Jon Morosi tweeted that the Tigers are having preliminary conversations about acquiring a starting pitcher.
https://twitter.com/jonmorosi/status/609465657415995392
As for Krol, he was 1-0 with a 4.76 ERA and 1.24 WHIP in six games earlier in the season.
"He's pitched extremely well in Toledo, ever since he went there," Ausmus said. "He's worked on a cutter that he started in spring training that's been very effective for him. His velocity's been good. He seems like he's in a good spot, so we hope he helps us here."
With the Mud Hens, Krol was 1-0 with a 1.15 ERA and 1.02 WHIP in 14 games.
"I think just throwing all of my pitches in and around the zone, not being too sporadic with them, being able to put the ball where I wanted to in 0-2 counts, 0-0 counts, but I'm healthy, so that's one of the biggest things," Krol said.
Krol, 24, said he had actually returned to his house in Royal Oak, Mich., preparing to leave out of Detroit for the Mud Hens' series in Pawtucket, Rhode Island.
"On my way to the airport I got a phone call from (player development director) Dave Owen, told me not to get on the plane," Krol said. "It's kind of unexpected."
Krol said he's been working on his curveball, cutter and even a new two-seam fastball in Toledo, the latter of which he said is not ready for a game yet.
"It's always good when you figure your stuff out," Krol said. "My main goal was just to put up numbers, get my stuff right, keep the ball down in the zone, make my pitches and get outs."
Now the Tigers hope Krol can do the same for them.
