Detroit Tigers' Matt Manning starts Friday vs. Blue Jays, but what about Kenta Maeda?

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Detroit Tigers right-hander Matt Manning is sticking around for at least one more start.

Manning is scheduled to start Friday against the Toronto Blue Jays at Comerica Park, which will be his third start in a row since getting recalled from Triple-A Toledo and his sixth start for the Tigers this season. After Friday, it's unclear if Manning's next start will be for the Tigers or the Mud Hens.

That decision is tied to veteran right-hander Kenta Maeda, who is currently on the injured list but fully healthy after recovering from a viral illness and eligible to be activated as soon as Thursday.

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"We haven't really gone any further than that until Kenta throws a bullpen," manager A.J. Hinch said. "We still haven't done much other than catch up with him and have him play a little bit of catch. Once he throws his bullpen, we'll start to look at the next series."

Maeda is scheduled to throw a bullpen session Wednesday or Thursday, with his next step to be determined after that. But Maeda appears to be lined up to start Saturday or Sunday, either for the Tigers or for Triple-A Toledo. If he starts for the Tigers, he could take Manning's place on the roster and allow the other four starters to get an extra day of rest.

The Tigers will not implement a six-man rotation.

"It's not that I haven't been told anything," Maeda said in Japanese, interpreted by Dai Sekizaki. "I have a general idea of maybe when I'm starting or not. It's not like I'm not going to pitch for the next 10 days, so in that sense, it's easier to schedule things and be back on the routine."

"I've been told not to discuss anything about my schedule," Maeda added, "so please do understand where I'm coming from."

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Right-hander Reese Olson (right hip contusion) was hit by a comebacker and removed from Monday's start in the third inning for precautionary reasons, but he will make his next start as scheduled for the Tigers.

"We're very fortunate," Hinch said. "We do have some starting pitching depth. It's kind of the conversation around Kenta, the conversation around Matt. Last night is a scary reminder that things can change quickly in the rotation, so you always want guys to work on things and do things that are going to make them better and better."

Manning has a 4.88 ERA with 12 walks and 23 strikeouts across 27⅔ innings in five starts with the Tigers. He also has a 3.79 ERA with seven walks and 24 strikeouts across 19 innings in four games with the Mud Hens. The 26-year-old isn't striking out as many batters in the major leagues compared to the minor leagues, and left-handed hitters are torching him at both levels.

Left-handers are hitting .304 with an .897 OPS against Manning.

"Distinguishing the two breaking balls are really important," Hinch said. "Having an effective fastball is very important. He hasn't gotten to his split as much as he was early in the spring and even early in the season. For us, the quality pitch getting into good counts. Strike 1 is important, first-pitch strikes, getting to two strikes quickly to where some of that leverage that he has, the extension he has, the sweep on his breaking ball he has, the below the zone split he has, he can utilize it a lot better when he gets in better counts. The thing for Matty is use your stuff wisely, but also use your stuff in the zone and get to two strikes as fast as you can."

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Meanwhile, Maeda allowed one run on three hits across three-plus innings in Sunday's start with Triple-A Toledo on his rehab assignment, throwing 53 pitches. The 36-year-old faced one batter in the fourth inning, who reached safely on a fielding error, before departing as planned.

He struck out six batters without issuing a walk.

"My body feels great," Maeda said. "The first inning, things were moving a little slow as I hadn't pitched in an extended period of time, but as the outing went along, everything came along nicely. I'm glad to be feeling healthy."

For the Mud Hens, Maeda threw 36% sliders, 25% splitters, 19% fastballs, 8% sweepers, 8% sinkers and 6% curveballs. He generated an impressive 13 whiffs on 29 swings. He typically throws more splitters and fastballs than sliders, which reveals he has been working on his slider.

His fastball still averaged 89.8 mph.

"He's trying to find some consistency on the baseball side," Hinch said, "find some consistency with his favorite pitches. He's been searching, then he'll find it, then he's been searching. It's been inconsistency, both in feel and execution. He took advantage of the rehab start to implement a strategy to try to find it."

The Tigers placed Maeda on the injured list May 11, retroactive to May 8, with a viral illness.

Maeda, an eight-year MLB veteran, has a 6.75 ERA with 10 walks and 23 strikeouts across 30⅔ innings in seven starts this season. He signed a two-year, $24 million contract with the Tigers in free agency this past offseason.

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 pitching rotation: Matt Manning still in; Kenta Maeda?