Tigers put catcher Alex Avila on DL

Detroit Tigers catcher Alex Avila was put on the 15-day disabled list Saturday because of a knee issue.

The team also said that David Price has a mild strain of his right hamstring and a decision will be made early next week about when the left-hander will make his next start.

The Tigers described Avila’s injury as a “loose body.” He could need arthroscopic surgery.

“Normally it’s like a piece of bone or something like that,” he said. “It affects me getting out of a chair. It’s been pretty painful for a while, for the past few weeks. Some days it’s been difficult just to walk around and stuff like that, so I knew it was probably something a little more serious, and basically I’ve been playing with it.”

Avila is hitting .200 with two home runs and eight runs batted in.

“We don’t know any type of timetable really,” Avila said. “We’re trying to basically figure out the course of action right now. But my expectation and my hope would be to be back and ready to go, good as new, for the second half. That would be my hope and I think that’s a pretty realistic possibility.”

Price was injured Friday night against Kansas City when he stepped on a bat that had been tossed aside by the plate umpire in anticipation of a play at home.

Price is 3-1 with a 3.30 earned-run average. He said Saturday he was feeling fine.

“It’s just when things happen to you that never happened before, it’s just scary,” he said.

Padres put Yonder Alonso on DL

The San Diego Padres put first baseman Yonder Alonso on the 15-day DL and recalled outfielder Abraham Almonte from triple-A El Paso.

Alonso bruised his right shoulder diving for a groundball in the eighth inning of the Padres’ 11-0 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks on Thursday night.

Twins’ Trevor Plouffe leaves team because of family issue

Minnesota Twins third baseman Trevor Plouffe sat out Saturday’s game against the Cleveland Indians because of a family matter.

Manager Paul Molitor said Plouffe had flown to Texas but was expected to rejoin the team Sunday for the finale of a three-game series.

Plouffe is batting .269 with five home runs, which leads the team, and 17 RBIs in 29 games. He’s hitting .316 since April 17 and has hit in 17 of his last 20 games.

Red Sox hire Carl Willis as pitching coach

The Boston Red Sox hired Carl Willis as pitching coach.

Willis was working as pitching coach for Cleveland’s triple-A team in Columbus. He takes over for Juan Nieves, who was fired Thursday, and will join the Red Sox on Sunday for a series finale against the Toronto Blue Jays.

Willis, 54, was pitching coach for Cleveland and Seattle. He was a reliever for nine years in the majors, finishing in 1995.