Tigers Starter Leaves Game With Injury After A Third Of An Inning

It's never a good thing when your injured list reads like your starting rotation. That's unfortunately the situation the Detroit Tigers find themselves in, after placing yet another rotation piece on the IL. 

Eduardo Rodriguez left today's game after just a third of an inning with pain in his left side. Manager A.J. Hinch says "he'll be done for a bit," and he'll join Casey Mize, Matt Manning, Tyler Alexander and Michael Pineda all on the IL. 

Unreal. Eduardo Rodriguez walks off the field with the head athletic trainer after getting just one out.

Don’t get me wrong, the Tigers haven’t been good this year but the bad luck with injures has been ridiculous. Now, right when they start playing better, this happens.

— Ben Verlander (@BenVerlander) May 18, 2022

It was obvious there was something wrong right from the start, as Rodriguez allowed 4 hits and 2 walks, while his fastball was several ticks below his 92 mph average. He recorded just one out.

That leaves the left-hander with a 4.38 ERA through 8 starts this year, and his strikeout rate is down considerably, at 7.9K/9, almost a full three strikeouts per nine below last year's rate in Boston. 

The 29-year-old signed a 5-year, $77M contract with the Tigers in the offseason. There's no word at this point on how long he'll be out. 

Photo Credit:  Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports