Arlington, Texas — It wasn’t a surprise to anyone, really.
When lefty Joey Wentz was summoned into manager AJ Hinch’s office Thursday morning, he knew what was coming.
“(Pitching coach Chris Fetter) and I met with Joey this morning to tell him about the transaction but also to offer him some encouragement,” Hinch said. “It’s been a grueling stretch for him, but there’s been some good mixed in.”
Wentz, whose record fell to 1-9 with a 6.78 ERA and 1.6 WHIP after getting dinged for six runs (four earned) in 4.2 innings Wednesday, was optioned to Triple-A Toledo.
The Tigers purchased the contract of lefty Zach Logue from Toledo. He will be used out of the bullpen.
The hope and expectation is that Wentz’s rotation spot, as well as the open fifth rotation spot, will be filled next week by returning left-handed starters Tarik Skubal (flexor tendon surgery) and Eduardo Rodriguez (finger).
“Tarik completed the four innings and got his pitch count to 60-plus (in his final rehab start Wednesday),” Hinch said. “That was a big step. We’ll see how he feels in the next couple of days. This morning he reported that he felt great. That’s a good sign.”
Rodriguez was scheduled to make a rehab start for the Mud Hens in Columbus Thursday night. Hinch said his status will be reassessed pending the outcome.
Neither will pitch in Colorado over the weekend, obviously. Hinch said he will deploy another bullpen game on Saturday. Michael Lorenzen and Matt Manning will start Friday and Sunday, respectively.
There is a chance, though, the club will be back to a five-man rotation — Reese Olson, Lorenzen, Manning, Skubal and Rodriguez — for the homestand beginning July 4.
Wither Wentz?
Hinch made it clear that Wentz remains in the plans for this season. In his three outings prior to Wednesday, he’d shown signs of progress, holding hitters to a .146 average and posting 17 strikeouts in 15.1 innings.
“We’ve got to get him back to consistently throwing well and using his pitches and executing,” Hinch said. “He’s very hard on himself. He holds himself to a very high bar. We expect him back, but we’ve got to get him right.
“We think he can get there fairly quickly.”
With Skubal and Rodriguez nearing their return, Wednesday would likely have been Wentz’s last start, regardless of the outcome.
“This move was needed on a couple of fronts,” Hinch said. “One, we do anticipate adding to the rotation pretty soon. Two, the extra arm (Logue) was critical now, going into Colorado with the bullpen game on Saturday.
“And three, we’ve got to get Joey back to being more effective consistently.”
Long road back
Logue, 27, made 10 starts and 14 appearances with the Oakland Athletics last season, posting a 3-8 record with a 6.79 ERA. The Tigers claimed him off waivers in December and he was among the final cuts this spring.
Since then, he’s developed and added a two-seam fastball to his repertoire and despite some elevated numbers, he’s been getting more swing-and-miss and more strikeouts in his recent outings.
“There’s been ups and downs,” he said. “I’ve just been working hard at honing the craft. The sinker has been solid. I am working toward having an all-around good arsenal.”
He was told of his promotion during the Mud Hens game Wednesday night.
“Really happy,” he said. “There’s a lot of work that goes into getting back. I’m proud of that and thankful for everybody that’s helped me along the way.”
To clear a spot on the 40-man roster, the Tigers designated Michigan State product Andrew Misiewicz for assignment.
“Some of these moves cause other moves and he was the odd man out for the 40-man,” Hinch said. “We’ll see where it takes us. We’d like to reclaim him.”
Schoop, chucking
Jonathan Schoop was 16 years old the last time he pitched in a baseball game. He’d never done it professionally until Wednesday, when he got four outs and allowed only a single against the Rangers.
“I was nervous at the beginning,” he said. “I stepped on the mound and it looked so close.”
Schoop, who can throw a baseball in the low- to mid-90s, was cautioned by Hinch not to throw at maximum velocity. Instead, Schoop kept the velo between 80 and 87 mph.
“I didn’t let it go,” he said. “I was scared. I didn’t want to hurt myself. They told me not to throw hard, but I told them I was going to throw it pretty firm. But I didn’t want to hurt myself and I didn’t want to hit somebody.”
He kept the baseball from his punch-out of Ezequiel Duran.
“I hope it never happens again,” Schoop said. “But,, next time I’m going to let it go.”
Around the horn
… Schoop was not a fan of the way Miguel Cabrera was ejected from the game in the fifth inning Wednesday. First-base umpire Ben May called Cabrera out on a debatable checked swing. Cabrera, as he always does, requested the check. May gave a demonstrative strike-three call and then tossed Cabrera, who was already walking back to the dugout, after he made a dismissive wave with his right hand. “He just wanted to throw out a Hall-of-Famer,” Schoop said.
… Schoop became the first position player to pitch multiple innings in a game since Willie Smith threw two innings in September of 1963.
Twitter: @cmccosky