The Detroit Tigers reinstated lefty starter Eduardo Rodriguez from the restricted list on Friday. Rodriguez spent more than two months away from the team due to personal matters.
“It’s difficult to step away from what I’ve been through all my career, my teammates and everything,” Rodriguez said. “But for me, family is always first. My second family is my teammates and the organization … I’m back here with my second family.”
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What exactly kept Rodriguez away from the team still has not been disclosed. He said his teammates “are really the ones who have to know what really happened in my life, because I’m here with them every day and I just want to keep it the way it is, keep it with them and with my family back in Miami.”
“I gave him the choice on addressing the group or not,” said Tigers manager A.J. Hinch. “He was emphatic that he wanted to. That means a lot to me, it means a lot to the club.”
Rodriguez last pitched for the Tigers on May 18, when he departed after one-third of an inning due to pain in his left side. He struck out nine over four scoreless innings in a rehab start for Triple-A Toledo on June 9, but the team placed him on the restricted list four days later.
Former executive vice president and general manager Al Avila said on July 6 that Rodriguez had not been in contact with the team, and MLB’s restricted list means Rodriguez did not receive pay, accrue service time or count toward the Tigers’ 40-man roster.
“I feel good with them because they’ve given me enough space to resolve all my problems and everything,” Rodriguez said about his period of no contact with the team. “Good thing is we’re back together … and I’m back here.”
The Tigers signed Rodriguez, 29, in November to a five-year contract worth $77 million. He’s made eight starts for Detroit with a 4.38 ERA and 34 strikeouts in 39 innings and said he’s been working out during his absence.
“I feel good to go out there mentally, body wise, and in all those aspects to go out there and pitch,” he said.
“It’s a reminder to all of us that these guys are human,” Hinch said. “They have the same life experiences that anyone in any job does. It’s public, and that makes it very difficult and it’s a different job that we have. The winning, the losing, the teammate component.”
(Photo: Julio Aguilar / Getty Images)