It was supposed to be a triumphant homecoming for beloved pitcher Justin Verlander, who returned to the Detroit Tigers during the offseason with a one-year contract to close out his career where it began.
However, Verlander has only managed one start this season and has missed considerable time with hip inflammation; he later suffered a setback during a bullpen session.
There’s nothing that Verlander would love more than to make a real start rather than something purely ceremonial. However, he wasn’t able to offer a definitive timeline of when that could happen.
“I don’t have that answer yet,” Verlander said Friday morning via MLB.com. “I think I did the thing I’ve always done my entire career, and that’s try to push smartly through some stuff to get back, and my hamstring just wouldn’t allow it this time. It kept setting me back a week, two weeks, a few weeks. And then that happened a few times. Obviously, it’s at the point where if that happened again, I’ve got no shot at pitching. So ever since we started to build back up, it’s been this balancing act of getting out of your own way.”
With time running out in the season and the Tigers unlikely to make the playoffs, Verlander knows there will only be so many chances of making a start.
“The thing that served me so well my whole career, has it been working against me a little bit this time? Just trying to really listen to the trainers, listen to my body and meanwhile, look at the calendar and see the time that’s left,” he said.
Detroit Tigers Pitcher Justin Verlander Said He’s Not Giving Up
According to Verlander, he has no plans on calling it quits for this season, but also wants to take a cautious approach.
“I’m not giving up, but trying to be as smart as I can about not having a setback,” he said. “It’s starting to feel really, really good, knock on wood. I think we’re getting close to my bullpen. The other day in Minnesota was a big step forward. Got up to a really healthy velocity. It gives me a lot of optimism that it can at least do what I need it to do, hopefully one or two times. I don’t know what that looks like. Not there yet.”
Putting the team ahead of himself, Verlander said that he doesn’t want to rush back if it means it hurts their fading playoff hopes.
“I surely wouldn’t go out there and hamstring our organization, our team and the work that these guys put in, if we’re in a position to go to the playoffs,” he said. “If I don’t feel I’m able to provide us a good chance to win, then that’s not fair to anybody else. If we’re not [in contention], then I think maybe that’s a little bit different. But I wouldn’t go out there hurt. If I can’t get out there healthy, I don’t want to do it. But if I can get back to healthy and can do it, then that’s where I think the thought of maybe accelerating the timeline to maybe get back out there a couple of times makes a bit of sense.
The Tigers Will Honor Verlander With A Two-Day Celebration
The Tigers announced that the final Friday and Saturday home games of the season will be used to celebrate the career of Verlander, who announced that this campaign would be his last in Major League Baseball.
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