Tigers catcher Alex Avila on DL, might need surgery

Detroit Tigers starting catcher Alex Avila went on the 15-day disabled list on Saturday, retroactive to Thursday, due to a loose body in his left knee. He'll get a second opinion, but will likely need arthroscopic surgery that could keep him sidelined anywhere from 2-6 weeks.

Avila was a late scratch Friday night due to a right forearm contusion.

"He had the forearm thing, so we scratched him and I hadn't heard anything about the knee," said Tigers manager Brad Ausmus.

Athletic trainer Kevin Rand told Ausmus that Avila's knee had been bothering him from time to time, so they were going to get an MRI.

"I didn't know anything about the knee until that conversation with Kevin," Ausmus said. "Then during the game he told me what the MRI results were."

Avila told reporters Saturday morning that the knee has been bothering him for the past few weeks and he wasn't sure how the injury occurred.

"The forearm is not a concern," Avila said. "Knee's been bothering me so we had it checked out. According to the doctor I have a loose body in there and so today we're going to get a second opinion and go from there."

Avila said he had an MRI on Friday.

"Normally it's a piece of bone or something like that," Avila said, and the usual course of action is having the knee scoped. "Today we're going to talk to some other doctors and find out the best way to go about it."

Bruce Rondon tossing from flat ground

Asked how it affected him, Avila said: "It affects me getting out of a chair. So, it's been pretty painful for the past few weeks. Some days it's been difficult just to walk around. I knew there was something probably a little more serious. Basically I've been playing with it, some days not sure how. According to the doctor, it wouldn't be smart to continue (playing). Probably do some more damage, so gotta take care of it."

Avila is batting .200 with 12 hits, 13 walks, two home runs and eight RBIs in 22 games.

"My expectation and my hope would be to be back and ready to go good as new before the second half," Avila said. "I think that's a pretty realistic possibility."

Avila, 28, said it was difficult to pinpoint when the injury first started bothering him or how it happened.

"I can't remember or think of a time where I felt it or did something to it," Avila said. "It's been bothering me pretty bad for a few weeks. But I can't think of a time when I injured it. That's kind of the mystery about it."

Avila said the injury is not related to a previous knee injury he had a couple seasons ago.

"When I had issues with it a few years ago, that was tendinitis in the patellar tendon," Avila said. "This is a separate issue."

The Tigers called up catcher Bryan Holaday, who was the No.2 catcher last season. Holaday, 27, was batting .230 in 18 games for Triple-A Toledo with three doubles, one home run and nine RBIs.

Rookie James McCann, who went 1-for-4 with a run scored in Friday's 6-5 win over the Royals, will get the bulk of the playing time at catcher while Avila is out.

McCann, 24, is batting .295 with a double, triple and home run in 15 games.

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