DETROIT >> On the surface, it seems strange that the Tigers haven’t just, out of pure necessity, reinserted veteran Kenta Maeda back into the starting rotation.

Yes, Maeda did struggle mightily in his 15 starts. But, the Tigers have exactly two healthy starting pitchers right now. Something is better than nothing, right?

Well, that’s not how manager AJ Hinch is looking at it. Just because Maeda hasn’t thrown the first inning, his bulk innings work can function the same as a starter’s role. And Maeda has been more effective doing it that way.

“It’s hard to change what is going well for him,” Hinch said before the game Friday. “The easy thing to do would be to start him because he’s done it his whole career. But it’s hard to argue that he hasn’t been more effective entering the game at a certain part of the lineup and then being able to navigate the lineup better.”

In 15 starts, Maeda has a 7.26 ERA, 1.584 WHIP and an opponent OPS of .906. In his four relief outings so far, he’s got a 3.38 ERA, 0.844 WHIP and a .610 opponent OPS. On Sunday he gave the Tigers five solid innings against the Twins, allowing just one run.

Most likely, he will get the bulk of the work Saturday against the Royals, though Hinch would not confirm that on Friday.

“He won’t do this forever,” Hinch said of the bulk innings role. “But I think it’s working and I don’t want to disrupt the routine that he’s developed in this role.”

Hinch said he could envision starting Maeda against a team that features a good matchup for him at the top of their lineup. But for the most part, the Tigers are content to use him working every fifth day, just not starting games.

“The question now is who is going to blink first,” Hinch said. “Do we change (the plan) first or do we wait for the best opportunity to present itself? I just really don’t want to mess him up right now with the way he’s got his stability back in his performance.”

It was both a show of faith and the continuance of development that Hinch plugged rookie Colt Keith into the lineup as the lone left-handed bat against Kansas City’s nasty lefty starter Cole Ragans Friday.

“We have always wanted him to be a certified full-time player and he’s demonstrated time and time again that he can handle a lot,” Hinch said. “Early in the season, we went in with that plan to play him every day, against righties and lefties.”

But Keith struggled early and Hinch started taking the lefty at-bats away just to let him find his footing facing mostly right-handed pitching. And he turned his season completely around, beginning in early May. He was named Tigers’ Player of the Month for July, hitting .322/.404/.644 with a 1.048 OPS.In the process, he’s won back those left-handed at-bats. He’s hitting .262/.311/.381 against lefties, hitting a game-flipping three-run home run off Twins lefty Steven Okert back on July 27.

“He’s going to get more and more of those matchups,” Hinch said. “It doesn’t mean it’s forever or for every situation. At certain times it might be smarter to give an at-bat to a right-handed pinch-hitter. He’s starting to give better at-bats against lefties but he doesn’t have to be perfect.

“The better pitches he swings at, the more opportunities he’s going to get.”

Wouldn’t you know it. Former Tiger Michael Lorenzen, traded from the Rangers to the Royals on Monday, will make his first start for his newest new team at Comerica Park against the Tigers on Saturday.

Déjà vu.

“Crazy,” Lorenzen said with a laugh as he was pouring over the scouting reports in the Royals’ clubhouse Friday, no time to do more than say hello.

If you will recall, Lorenzen, the Tigers’ All-Star last year before being traded to Philadelphia for second base prospect Hao-Yu Lee, signed late with the Rangers and made his first start for them on April 15, against the Tigers at Comerica Park.

“Baseball does some funny things,” Hinch said. “It can be cruel. It can be kind. And this is probably somewhere in between, for all parties. As soon as he got traded, I figured he was going to pitch in this series, just the way baseball creates these story lines and emotional rollercoasters.”

Lorenzen, by the way, pitched five scoreless innings against the Tigers in a 1-0 Rangers win back in April.

Casey Mize (hamstring) will throw a live bullpen before the game Saturday against a couple of pretty tough left-handed hitters. Riley Greene (hamstring) and Kerry Carpenter (lumbar spine stress fracture) will be taking their hacks against him.

The hope is that Greene and Carpenter can be cleared to start rehab assignments as early as next week. Mize, on the 60-day injured list, is out until at least Aug. 1.

Tyler Holton was named Tigers Pitcher of the Month for July. He pitched 18 scoreless innings in 11 outings with 13 strikeouts.