Detroit Tigers activate Kenta Maeda from injured list to start Friday, option Matt Manning

Welcome back, Kenta Maeda.

The Detroit Tigers activated Maeda — a veteran right-hander who missed his last two starts with a viral illness — from the injured list, making him the starter for Friday's game against the Toronto Blue Jays at Comerica Park.

"He's ready to go," manager A.J. Hinch said. "We wanted to get him through his normal routine prep, and once he became available, it's easy to put him in there, and we needed to make a transaction to make that happen."

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Right-hander Matt Manning — who had been listed as the scheduled starter — has been optioned to Triple-A Toledo in a corresponding move, three days after Hinch announced him as the starter for Friday's game against the Blue Jays.

Right-handers Reese Olson and Casey Mize will start Saturday and Sunday, respectively, to complete the four-game series. Left-hander Tarik Skubal and right-hander Jack Flaherty are lined up to start Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively, against the Pittsburgh Pirates at Comerica Park.

There's an off day Monday between series.

The Tigers could have started Manning on Friday, then optioned him to Triple-A Toledo afterward to activate Maeda for Saturday's game. The Tigers ultimately decided not to do that because it would've given Skubal and Flaherty two extra days of rest, which the Tigers decided wasn't the best plan for them.

"We have an off day on Monday, so we're going to get the natural extra day," Hinch said. "Had we done that, we would have had Skubal and Flaherty both on a week (of rest), so there's a disadvantage to doing that, too. We chose this route."

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The pitching plan was finalized Thursday.

Hinch informed Blue Jays manager John Schneider upon making the decision to activate Maeda earlier than anyone expected, thus scratching Manning from Friday's start, so there wasn't a competitive advantaged gained by the Tigers in this situation.

"Out of my respect for him, I let him know when we knew," Hinch said.

Maeda, who signed a two-year, $24 million contract in free agency this past offseason, has a 6.75 ERA with 10 walks and 23 strikeouts across 30⅔ innings in seven starts this season. He completed a rehab assignment with Triple-A Toledo, needing just one start following his recovery from the viral illness.

For the Mud Hens, Maeda allowed one run on three hits across three-plus innings, throwing 53 pitches. He generated 13 whiffs on 29 swings for a 44.8% whiff rate, getting eight whiffs on 12 swings from the slider and four whiffs on nine swings from the splitter.

"Pitch execution is going to be really key for Kenta," Hinch said. "One thing that he can do effectively is change the pace of his pitches. He's got a lot of weapons to go up against a predominately right-handed lineup (from the Blue Jays), but like all pitchers, he's going to need to execute."

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Manning won't start for Triple-A Toledo until next week, meaning he will go at least nine days between starts. He has a 4.88 ERA with 12 walks and 23 strikeouts across 27⅔ innings in five starts for the Tigers this season.

Maeda landed on the injured list May 11, retroactive to May 8, allowing for Manning's arrival.

"I had been telling Matt all along what his situation was," Hinch said. "It's somewhat obvious for him. He knew when he came up he was somewhat tied to Kenta's timeline, unless something else happened. I'm just as transparent as I can be with these guys so they know, and Matt appreciated that and knew his situation going into his starts, and then anything could happen. There were no surprises. He was understanding. He's going to get back to work and be ready for us."

Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him @EvanPetzold.

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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Tigers activate Kenta Maeda, option Matt Manning to Toledo