Boston — Tigers starter Eduardo Rodriguez, who pitched six seasons for the Red Sox including the 2018 championship season, sat in the dugout before the game Friday talking to a large group of mostly Boston-based media.
“It feels amazing to be back,” Rodriguez said. “This is where my career began. We won a World Series here. I have a lot of good memories here.”
Rodriguez, who went 28-18 with a 4.30 ERA at Fenway Park, will make his first start in Boston as a member of the Tigers on Sunday. After the 2021 season, the Red Sox put a qualifying offer on Rodriguez but didn’t come close to matching the Tigers’ offer of five years, $77 million, with an opt-out after the second year and a 10-team no-trade clause.
“It’s a business, that’s all it is,” Rodriguez said. “They made their decision and I made mine. At the end of the day, it’s just about business. They took care of themselves and I took care of me. That’s why I’m a Tiger now.”
As he has steadfastly since he blocked a potential trade to the Dodgers at the deadline, Rodriguez stayed clear of any talk about his future beyond this season.
“I feel really good where I am at right now and I want to help this team keep going,” he said. “I don’t feel we’re out yet. We have a chance to make the postseason. That’s why I decided to stay here, too. Right now I just want to keep pitching and keep helping my team. I hope we can make it.
“If you ask me that question (about his future) after the season, I can tell you something else. But right now I just want to go out and keep pitching.”
Tigers DFA Shreve
Chasen Shreve has been here before. Not that it makes it any easier.
The Tigers cut ties with the veteran lefty on Friday, designating him for assignment to clear a roster spot for right-handed reliever Will Vest, who was activated off the injured list.“We have to make decisions when we get healthy guys coming back and in this case it was a tough one,” manager AJ Hinch said. “With a bullpen that’s full and with Vest coming back, and more guys due back soon, it created a tough call.”
Right-hander Jason Foley (bereavement list) is expected to rejoin the team on Saturday. That will necessitate another bullpen move. On top of that, right-handed reliever Mason Englert (hip) is beginning a rehab assignment at Triple-A Toledo Saturday. He could be ready to return when the Tigers get back from this 10-day road trip.
“Chasen has been a pro,” Hinch said. “He handled a lot of different roles and different responsibilities for us. But he was the odd man out.”
The Tigers were Shreve’s fourth team since 2021 and the sixth he’s pitched for in 10 seasons. He made 47 appearances covering 41⅓ innings with a 4.79 ERA for the Tigers. From July 2 through Thursday, he allowed five earned runs in 11⅔ innings (four of those runs came in two outings) with 12 strikeouts and three walks.
“We talk about choosing who we’re going to give opportunities to and how we want to shape our bullpen with different styles of pitchers,” Hinch said. “And we made the decision that we made. He handled it great. He loved it here.
“These are the tough parts of our job. But when the organization needs to make a call, we do it.”
Ready to go
When Vest came up limping after a pitch in Texas on June 26, he’d been on a run of 6⅓ scoreless innings with seven strikeouts. On the season, he’s pitched 29⅔ innings in 27 outings with a 2.73 ERA, holding hitters to a .209 average with 32 strikeouts and nine walks.
Then he had to miss all of July with what was diagnosed as a lower right leg strain.
“It lingered for a little bit,” he said. “I wanted to get back as quick as possible. But I just had to be smart about it and make sure I was ready. … It was just kind of a freak thing. I didn’t have to change any of my mechanics. The hardest thing was being able to trust getting into my back leg.
“That was the biggest test. Everything is fine now.”
He made four rehab outings with Toledo, which was one more than he wanted. He walked four hitters in his third rehab start, which necessitated a clean-up outing.
“I just felt like I was off that day,” he said. “I had to go throw another one to get back to where I was.”
He did that, throwing a clean 14-pitch, two-strikeout inning on Wednesday.
Around the horn
Right-hander Spencer Turnbull (neck) is scheduled to make his next rehab start for Toledo on Tuesday.
… The Tigers released a minor league medical report Friday. Pitcher Angel De Jesus is recovering from Tommy John surgery, pitcher Wilmer Flores has been rehabbing a right hamstring injury and pitcher Garrett Hill is working his way back from a shoulder injury.
chris.mccosky@detroitnews.com
Twitter: @cmccosky
Tigers at Red Sox
▶ First pitch: 4:10 p.m. Saturday, Fenway Park, Boston
▶ TV/radio: BSD/97.1
SCOUTING REPORT
▶ RHP Matt Manning (3-4, 5.06), Tigers: He’s trying to right the ship after three rough outings. He got to the big leagues with a sneaky-firm fastball but recently he’s been living and dying with his slider. He threw sliders 42% of the time against the Rays in his last start and they beat him up. His chase (22.6%) and whiff (18%) rates are down and his zone contact rate (86%) is way up.
▶ RHP Brayan Bello (8-6, 3.64), Red Sox: Boston has won five of his last six starts and he’s gone at least six innings in 10 of his last 11. He features a 95-mph sinker — with which he’s got a 56.6% ground ball rate — and four-seamer, with a nasty changeup (.178 opponent average, 42% whiff rate). Even with that changeup, though, left-handed hitters have got to him, hitting .280 with an OPS of .820, 200 points higher than right-handed hitters.