The Athletics confirmed Montas (shoulder) will start the second game of Thursday's doubleheader with the Tigers in Oakland.
Montas was never forced to the injured list, and he'll make his return to action coming out of the All-Star break having not pitched in 18 days on account of a sore right shoulder. Though Montas' shoulder responded well to an aggressive bullpen session over the weekend, the Athletics could be careful with his workload Thursday with the hope of avoiding any potential setback to his arm ahead of the Aug. 2 trade deadline. The non-contending Athletics firmly put themselves in the seller camp even before the season began, and Montas currently ranks as the team's most prized trade asset in what is shaping up to be a weak market for starting pitchers. Before the shoulder issue surfaced, Montas had been in the midst of a strong statistical season, having turned in a 3.26 ERA and 1.09 WHIP to go with 100 strikeouts over 96.2 innings.