Verlander eyeing return to big league mound before retirement

DETROIT – On the day the Tigers welcomed back a former Cy Young winner on the other side in Tarik Skubal, manager A.J. Hinch expressed optimism that another will get one more time on the mound at Comerica Park before the season and his career ends.

Justin Verlander hasn’t pitched, let alone thrown off a mound, since announcing in July that he plans to retire at season’s end. But there’s hope that he can pitch at least once more before he closes the door on his 21-year Major League career.

Both Verlander and the Tigers are hesitant to make declarations, given that he had two scheduled returns to Comerica Park scratched due to injury. But after Verlander’s latest throwing session, Hinch said the former American League MVP and Cy Young Award winner was “as encouraged as I’ve heard him since his injury.”

“I sense that he is building towards something positive, and that he’s going to be able to make at least one appearance,” Hinch said. “I’m sure he wants multiple [outings] to cap what is going to be a historic career, but right now we just aren’t to the point where we can pencil anything in.”

Verlander has been on the injured list since early April, first with left hip inflammation, then with a left hamstring strain. He has pitched once since signing back with Detroit, a March 30 start at Arizona in which he allowed five runs on six hits over 3 2/3 innings. What was hoped to be a veteran boost to Detroit’s rotation as well as a bookend to a Hall of Fame career has become another chapter in the litany of injuries that have derailed Detroit’s hopes for a third consecutive postseason berth and a deep October run.

Getting one more outing would be a small consolation, but as Detroit fans who watched Miguel Cabrera’s farewell three years ago would attest, it would be a much-appreciated chance to give thanks and say goodbye to an icon.

Verlander is throwing off the slope of the mound, a step towards a bullpen session. It’s still a long way from game action, but it’s a much-needed step in the right direction.

“It’s hard to tell people what that means, other than it’s a step further than playing catch,” Hinch said.