Travis Wood, who hasn’t pitched since July 2, will start for Royals on Tuesday

Royals pitcher Travis Wood hopes he isn’t limited by a pitch count when he makes his second start of the season on Tuesday against Detroit.

He even said he could go all nine innings, if needed.

“The plate is still 60 feet, six inches where I left it,” said Wood who hasn’t pitched in a game since making a spot start on July 2 against the Twins. “That’s what we pride ourselves in, being able to repeat delivery and being able to consistently throw strikes. Hopefully we will be able to do that tomorrow”

During Wood’s lone start against the Twins, he threw 81 pitches, the most he’s tossed since May 14, 2015. He delivered four scoreless innings before allowing two runs in the fifth, as the Royals defeated the Twins 6-2.

Wood, who signed a two year, $12 million contract as a free agent during the offseason, has made 26 appearances this year, compiling a 6.06 ERA over 32.2 innings. He’s allowed 40 hits and 23 runs and struck out 24.

“I’m looking forward to it. It’s been awhile since I’ve been out there, but we’ve been (put) through several (bullpen sessions),” Wood said. “It’s more of a mindset thing … the only thing different from a pen and a game is there’s other guys trying to hit it.”

Wood will bring a pitch-by-pitch mentality when he takes the mound against the Tigers.

“You try to take it an inning at a time and you’ve got three outs to get one hitter at a time,” Wood said. “You never know what’s going to happen. It could be your last hitter ... if you focus on getting the last hitter, you might mess up the first two. So really just try to take it a hitter at a time, a pitch at a time.”

Game-time temperatures are expected to reach triple digits this week and humidity could be another factor on Tuesday. Royals manager Ned Yost plans to limit batting practice throughout the week.

“It’s just part of the game, part of the elements,” Wood said. “You can’t let yourself worry about it because there’s nothing you can do about it.”

This story was originally published July 17, 2017 at 7:30 PM with the headline "Travis Wood, who hasn’t pitched since July 2, will start for Royals on Tuesday."