DETROIT -- The Tigers wanted one more rehab start from Reese Olson to stretch him out and repeat his wipeout changeup before potentially plugging him back into their rotation. Olson delivered on Wednesday afternoon, tossing four innings and 74 pitches with five strikeouts for Triple-A Toledo in a 4-3 loss to Charlotte in 10 innings at Fifth Third Field.
Now comes the waiting game to see where the young right-hander slots back into Detroit’s rotation, which could use his presence.
Olson, who has been on the 15-day injured list since May 18 with right ringer inflammation, gave up a two-run home run to Joshua Palacios in the opening inning, but shut down the White Sox top affiliate from there. Olson mixed in his full arsenal for the second straight start; his 49 strikes included two whiffs on 14 changeups.
“Reese got to his pitch count, not quite to his innings count that we were hoping,” Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said before Detroit lost, 3-0, to the Athletics at Comerica Park. “But from what I was told, things checked out really, really well. He was happy with all of his pitches and the fact that he got through it unscathed in terms of health is a great step forward.
“He’ll be back with us [Thursday] on the rehab side of things and then go through the next step, throw a bullpen in the next day or two.”
The Tigers have an open rotation spot for Olson after they optioned Keider Montero to Triple-A for an extra reliever on Friday. For now, the club brought well-traveled left-hander Dietrich Enns from Toledo to the taxi squad in anticipation of having him fill the spot for a turn on Thursday afternoon against the A’s.
It’ll be the first Major League outing for Enns since 2021, and his first start since he made his MLB debut for the Twins on Aug. 10, 2017. The former Central Michigan University pitcher, who turned 34 last month, appeared in nine games in relief for the Rays in ‘21 before spending the past three years pitching in Japan and Korea. The Tigers brought him back stateside on a Minor League deal last offseason.
The Tigers have been utilizing openers in front of Montero and Sawyer Gipson-Long in their rotation, a throwback to their pitching chaos strategy down the stretch last season. Though lefty Brant Hurter opened in three Detroit victories in about a three-week span from mid-May into June, the Rays roughed him up for four unearned runs on two hits, two walks and a hit batter in two-thirds of an inning last Saturday in Tampa before Gipson-Long took over.
Last Thursday, the Pirates scored three runs on four hits, two of them home runs, in 1 1/3 innings against Tyler Holton when he opened for Montero in Game 2 of a doubleheader.
The Tigers were able to use Monday’s off-day to go with a four-man rotation for a turn in Montero’s absence, moving Tarik Skubal and Jack Flaherty up to start on their normal four days’ rest.
Skubal allowed two-run homers in his first and second innings Tuesday night against the Athletics but grinded out six innings in an 11-4 win. On Wednesday, Flaherty posted his first quality start since June 8 and looked sharper than he has in a few weeks, but he paid for a Nick Kurtz three-run homer that stood as the only runs of the game.
Both Flaherty and Skubal have made more starts this season on five or more days of rest than on the standard four. It’s not that they can’t do it, but the Tigers would like to keep both of them well-rested for the stretch run and the postseason.
Getting Olson back helps both that and the Tigers’ bullpen, getting the rotation back to four traditional starters. Moreover, an effective Olson is a front-line-caliber starter, deepening Detroit’s rotation. He had a 2.96 ERA, a 2.94 FIP and a career-best rate of 9.4 strikeouts per nine innings before his injury.
With Olson’s outing on Wednesday, he lines up for a potential return next week in Washington, where the Tigers open a three-game series against the Nationals on Tuesday. Bringing Olson back on Tuesday would give extra rest for Flaherty, who would already have an extra day between starts with Monday’s off-day. Or Detroit could bring Olson back later in the series.