Eduardo Rodriguez leaves Tigers start with concerning injury

Detroit Tigers ace Eduardo Rodriguez left his start against the Tampa Bay Rays with an injury. It doesn’t look promising.

E-Rod is off to an up-and-down start with the Tigers, as he went 1-2 with a 3.72 ERA in his first seven starts.

Rodriguez signed a five-year, $77 million contract this past offseason with Detroit. Al Avila hoped Rodriguez could serve as a stable veteran ace for a rotation full of young pitchers.

Still, the Tigers pitching staff has suffered a ton of injuries this year, namely to Casey Mize and Matt Manning. You can add Rodriguez to that list.

E-Rod was chased in the first inning after giving up three runs. The training staff came out to look at him, and A.J. Hinch had seen enough.

Can Tigers withstand an injury to Eduardo Rodriguez?

Detroit had won four straight games before Tuesday night’s loss to Tampa. A victory on Wednesday afternoon would go a long way in building their confidence after a tough start to the season marred by injuries and poor offensive play.

In short, an injury to their ace would be a major hit to the Tigers’ chances of turning things around in this early season. The lineup has yet to show much life, and without a stable rotation to match their excellent bullpen, Detroit would be out of many baseball games before the first pitch.

Rodriguez hasn’t been excellent, but he’s a stable force the Tigers must count on at this point in the season. Without an ace, Detroit’s rotation is left with Tarik Skubal and little else.

We’ll have more updates on Eduardo Rodriguez’s injury status when they come available.