McGehee ready to contribute to Tigers’ playoff push

DETROIT — The Tigers signed Casey McGehee at the start of Spring Training for this type of situation, to have a veteran Major Leaguer ready to step in if they suffered a corner-infield injury.

McGehee, a veteran of 821 Major League games across seven different teams, stuck around when he had chances to leave — at the end of Spring Training and again in midseason after a June weekend stint with the Tigers as a pinch-hitter — to be that veteran who could step in.

Thus, when Nick Castellanos left Saturday’s game with a fractured bone in his left hand, the first move was to pull McGehee from the Triple-A Toledo lineup and get him on the road from Indianapolis — where the Mud Hens were playing — to Detroit.

This is what general manager Al Avila had in mind when he talked about building depth in the organization. Now, as the Tigers head into mid-August in a playoff chase, that depth gets another test, but maybe the test for which it has been better prepared.

“He’s a big league player,” manager Brad Ausmus said. “He’s had some good years here. He’s been a little up and down the last few years, but he’s performed at the big league level. I’m not …

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