Inside the Article:
Detroit Tigers pitcher Eduardo Rodriguez, who has been unable to play since late May after landing on the Injured Reserve thanks to a ruptured A4 pulley in his left index finger, is working his way toward a return. And his teammates liked what they saw from him earlier today.
Rodriguez threw a live bullpen session today
Prior to tonight's game at Comerica Park against the Minnesota Twins, Rodriguez threw three innings' worth of a live bullpen session with positive reports on his velocity.
“I was throwing my pitches, and everything was working the way I wanted,” Rodriguez said. “Everything was perfect, feeling-wise, body-wise, shoulder-wise, finger-wise. Everything was right where I wanted it.”
Rodriguez's teammates liked what they saw
While Rodriguez felt that he looked good during his session, his teammates certainly echoed what he had to say.
“He's good,” Kerry Carpenter said. “He was dotting everything.”
“I feel like he hasn't missed a beat,” Riley Greene said. “Obviously, I'm seeing it from center field. But he was hitting his spots. His stuff looked really good and looked the same as it looks in center field. I feel like that's E-Rod.”
Meanwhile, manager A.J. Hinch was encouraged by what he saw.
“That was encouraging,” Hinch said. “He's certainly said all along that he's wanted to push it pretty hard, but that was a display of normalcy for him. We'll see how he is feeling in the next day or so, but it was nice to see him pitching.”
Wrapping It: Up A healthy Rodriguez would be huge for Detroit
Prior to his injury, Rodriguez had registered an impressive stat line of 2.13 ERA with 16 walks and 67 strikeouts across 67⅔ innings of work.
If Detroit were to get him back in short order, it would go a long way in their quest to try and catch the Twins for 1st in the American League Central Division.
