Detroit Tigers manager A.J. Hinch can’t make it official yet.
But he isn’t keeping any secrets.
Right-hander Jack Flaherty completed his rehab start Tuesday, June 23, with Double-A Erie and remains on track to return to the Tigers for Sunday’s finale of a four-game series against the Houston Astros at Comerica Park.
“We have ‘To Be Determined’ listed for Sunday,” Hinch said before Wednesday’s finale of a three-game series against the New York Yankees at Comerica Park. “I can wink. I can hint. I can put it in pencil. It’s not in pen. Clearly, it’s something that we’re considering as we get closer to the weekend.”
Flaherty hasn’t pitched for the Tigers since June 12, when he suffered a left ankle injury.
In Tuesday’s rehab start, Flaherty allowed two runs on three hits and one walk with seven strikeouts across 5⅔ innings, throwing 83 pitches.
“Pretty smooth,” Flaherty said.
“You want to feel good after dealing with some stuff,” Flaherty said before Wednesday’s game. “You want to go out and execute no matter the situation or circumstances. I did the little things well of getting ahead and working from there. That was probably the biggest thing.”
The Tigers have three of four starters locked in for the upcoming series against the Astros: right-hander Troy Melton on Thursday, right-hander Keider Montero on Friday and left-hander Framber Valdez on Saturday.
Expect Flaherty in Sunday’s finale.
“We got pretty much everything accomplished that we wanted to,” Hinch said, “meaning we kept his pitch count pretty high, and he got out for a sixth inning and reported that he felt really good. His stuff was in the normal range of what we would expect. We’ll continue his progression to hopefully coming back.”
Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him @EvanPetzold.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Jack Flaherty injury update: Detroit Tigers RHP ready to return
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