LAKELAND, Fla. -- Justin Verlander’s return to the mound in a Tigers uniform is set. The former American League MVP and three-time Cy Young Award winner will make his first appearance of Spring Training on Friday afternoon, when the Tigers host the Red Sox at Joker Marchant Stadium.
It’ll be a homecoming on many levels for Verlander, who signed back with the Tigers as a free agent on Feb. 10. Verlander made Lakeland his offseason home during his first Tigers tenure, from his selection with the second overall pick in the 2004 Draft through his final Spring Training with Detroit in 2017. Verlander hasn’t pitched in Lakeland since then, not with the Astros nor the Mets. Verlander spent last spring with the Giants, who train in Arizona.
Verlander will be the last member of the Tigers’ projected rotation to pitch in a game this spring, but he was also the last of the group to sign. He has a good knowledge of his build-up as he prepares for his 21st MLB season.
Verlander threw a pair of live batting practice sessions, most recently a couple innings on Sunday morning against teammates Zach McKinstry and Matt Vierling. Verlander sought feedback from both hitters as well as from catcher Dillon Dingler on how they saw his pitches moving.
“His volume’s at the right time to transition to a game,” manager A.J. Hinch said Monday morning. “It’s time to get ready for the season for those guys, and really just building his endurance was the big key to where he can now go compete.”
The schedule should allow Verlander to get three or four Spring Training starts, the latter including one of the Tigers’ exhibition games against the Rockies at their Spring Training home at Salt River Fields in Scottsdale, Ariz.