Left-hander Eduardo Rodriguez returns to the mound on Wednesday, and the Detroit Tigers are not the only team that hopes he comes back strong.
Rodriguez, who will face the visiting Oakland Athletics in the second game of a three-game series, could be one of the hottest names on the trade market this month.
He is expected to opt out of the remaining three years on a five-year contract he signed prior to last season. Detroit will be looking to get assets for Rodriguez rather than risk losing its ace for nothing.
Rodriguez hasn’t made a major league start since May 28 due to a finger injury. He made one rehab start at Triple-A Toledo on Thursday, tossing 4 1/3 scoreless innings.
“I was encouraged that he was able to hold his stuff,” Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said. “His velocity was good. His endurance was better than expected. We got him into the fifth inning, which was the A-plus situation. All signs are pointing towards him being ready.”
Rodriguez (4-4, 2.13 ERA) had a dominant six-start stretch during April and early May in which he allowed just two runs. He was also sharp in his last start prior to being shelved, holding the Chicago White Sox to one run in six innings.
He has made eight career starts against Oakland, going 2-3 with a 3.99 ERA.
Rodriguez will be opposed by left-hander Ken Waldichuk (1-5, 6.78 ERA), who will be making his 12th start and 20th appearance this season. He likely won’t pitch a majority of the contest. Waldichuk has not gone longer than three innings in each of his past 10 outings.
He tossed 2 2/3 innings of scoreless relief against the New York Yankees in his latest outing on Thursday. He allowed six runs and six hits in 2 1/3 innings against the Toronto Blue Jays on June 25.
Waldichuk has a 1.915 WHIP and has allowed 14 home runs in 66 1/3 innings.
The A’s won the series opener 1-0 in 10 innings on Tuesday despite being limited to two hits, both singles. Oakland’s second hit, from Ryan Noda, drove in the game’s lone run.
Starting pitcher JP Sears set the tone for Oakland by going a career-best 7 1/3 innings.
“JP had a great start for us, and we were just trying to feed off that,” Noda said. “We wanted to reward the pitchers for what they did (Tuesday).”
The A’s didn’t have a shutout win this season until Tuesday’s outcome. Oakland, which began a six-game road trip, has won three of its past four games.
It was a strange outing for the Tigers, who scored a season-high 14 runs while defeating the Colorado Rockies on Sunday in Denver. They left nine runners on base against the A’s while going 0-for-10 with runners in scoring position.
“We had every chance to win the game,” Hinch said. “We had seven at-bats that were pretty critical, and in those at-bats, we drew two walks. They won every other at-bat than that with the game on the line at various points. So when that happens, it’s frustrating. You don’t want to waste the pitching that we had tonight.”