Notes: Gardy rejoins Tigers; Paredes' slump

DETROIT -- Ron Gardenhire was back to work at Comerica Park on Tuesday after missing the last two and a half games. Maybe just as important, he’s back to the clubhouse food menu.

“I had a little grilled ham and cheese sandwich. It’s the first thing I've put of any substance in my body. We’ll see how this goes,” Gardenhire said Tuesday afternoon before the Tigers opened a quick two-game homestand against the Brewers. “But it's been a tough couple of days, I can tell you that.”

Gardenhire said he started feeling ill after eating something at Target Field on Saturday. By the middle of the game, “There's just no way I could sit on the bench.”

Gardenhire still has a home in the Twin Cities area, and he went there to recuperate. He also went there to isolate, as the COVID-19 protocol recommends with anyone who falls ill.

“Once you have symptoms of any kind of illness, you're going to have to go through protocol,” Gardenhire said. “So a guy came to my house and did the nose swab and everything came out negative, which we all thought it would. I haven't been outside of my house or the ballpark. I don't do those things. It's just one of those situations where I got tested and everything was fine. They told us the next day, which was a relief. You never know in this day and age.”

Gardenhire was cleared to rejoin the team at Target Field shortly before game time Monday afternoon. He sat in the manager’s office during the game and traveled back to Detroit with the team.

Gardenhire, who turns 63 next month, underwent surgery for prostate cancer in 2017. He left the bench during a game last year after feeling light-headed, a setback he jokingly blamed on pitcher Daniel Norris’ coffee.

Gardenhire is also a good friend of Cleveland manager Terry Francona, who has missed a sizable portion of this season due to gastrointestinal issues that led to surgery to remove a blood clot.

“My health, I just have to take care of myself,” Gardenhire said. “I know my age, I know what's going on in this world, and I have to be very concerned. So that's why I stepped back and stayed away for a day or two.”

Paredes gets day off amid slump
Isaac Paredes joined the Tigers last month with an advanced knowledge of the strike zone for a 21-year-old rookie, but an 0-for-18 slump has tested that over the last week. Gardenhire started Sergio Alcántara at third base on Tuesday to give Paredes a break.

“I think Paredes needs to clear [his head] a little bit,” Gardenhire said. “You could see he was frustrated yesterday. He's having some pitches called on him. The kid knows the strike zone pretty good. He's getting some pitches called on him that might be off the plate a little bit, and rookies just have to be able to kind of take it, and I think he's getting a little frustrated.

“I'm going to talk to him about what happens in the big leagues: There's a lot of great pitchers and you're a kid, and you're going to get some things called on you that might not be strikes and you have to handle it better and not let it ruin your at-bat. And you have that conversation with all kids.”

Quick hits
• Versatile utility player Harold Castro (left hamstring strain) continues to do baseball activities, including running the bases, but is at least a couple days away from a return, Gardenhire said.

“He's really close, but he had a little tightness in his other hamstring,” he said. “I don't think it's a pull or anything like that. He's close to being ready to come and join us. Just gotta make him 100 percent before we get him here, if that's possible.”

• The Tigers’ two-game series against the Brewers marks their shortest homestand since two games against the Twins on April 14-15, 2008. The Tigers will hit the road after Wednesday’s matinee for a Thursday doubleheader in St. Louis, followed by three games against the White Sox in Chicago.