Kikuchi (neck) will be activated from the 15-day injured list to start Thursday's home game against the Tigers, Mitch Bannon of SI.com reports.
Kikuchi has been on the IL since July 7 due to a neck strain, but he began a rehab assignment last week and allowed two hits and three walks while striking out four in five scoreless innings during his lone minor-league start. He threw a side session Tuesday and has been cleared to rejoin the Blue Jays' rotation for Thursday's series opener against the Tigers. Kikuchi threw 77 pitches during his rehab start, so he should be able to handle a relatively significant workload against a favorable opponent.