George Sipple

Detroit Free Press

Detroit Tigers president and general manager Dave Dombrowski declined to say Tuesday whether the team would pick up a $5.4-million club option on Alex Avila.

It seems as though the Tigers plan on Avila continuing to be their regular catcher next season.

Avila suffered the third documented concussion of his career in the playoffs and is expected to be cleared by doctors soon.

Dombrowski said he has known Avila since the catcher was 5, so of course he worries for him as a person.

"I'm thankful that nothing major has happened and they say he should be fine," Dombrowski said of reports that he has received from the medical staff.

Al Avila, Alex's father and the Tigers' assistant general manager, said his son previously played through concussions without realizing he had them. Al Avila said he's not sure how many Alex had.

"Your biggest danger is if you get a concussion and try to play through that concussion and then you get hit again, that's when permanent damage could occur," Al Avila said Tuesday.

Al Avila said he has emphasized to Alex that he has to come out of games if there's a suspicion that he has suffered a concussion. He said he doesn't want to see anyone get hit, whether it's his son or someone else.

"From here on out, if he gets hit, now you know what it is," Al Avila said. "Then you come out of the game. If it's a week or 10 days, then that's what you have to sit out and he should come back fine.

"As far as I know, he's healthy and he's ready to go from all the tests that they've taken. He should have no issues moving forward. As far as life-threatening things or career-ending things, at this point, the doctors have given him no indication that that's the case."

Alex Avila, 27, will talk to the media about just about any topic, but he dislikes discussing the often documented abuse he takes behind the plate. He switched to better protective equipment that he wore in the past.

Al Avila said one of the most frustrating ways Alex has been hit is by backswings.

"If you get hit with a foul ball in the mask, how do you avoid that?" Al Avila said. "Sometimes when you're catching hard-throwing pitchers, you're going to have to get hit in the mask."

Al Avila said his son has attempted to move back, but he'll creep back up to get a strike in a crucial situation.

"He has moved around," Al Avila said. "A batter that he knows consistently hits him on the head, and he'll actually catch the ball and try to move the head a little bit. You're trying to catch a 96-m.p.h. fastball and move out of the way."

Could he switch to a different position?

"He's too young," Al Avila said. "I think later in his career, it could be a viable move for him because he was actually a pretty good first baseman, more so than a third baseman. But I think that's something that could be down further when he's older in his career, or if the concussion thing continues to be a big problem.

"As we stand here today, he's a catcher."

Contact George Sipple: gsipple@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @georgesipple.

Be sure that you follow Freep Sports on Twitter (@freepsports) and Instagram and like us on Facebook.