DETROIT -- Justin Verlander's return to the mound at Comerica Park in a Tigers uniform will have to wait. Detroit placed the former AL MVP and Cy Young Award winner on the 15-day injured list Saturday with left hip inflammation.
The move is retroactive to Wednesday, meaning he’ll be eligible to return as soon as April 16. Still, the Tigers will want to make sure Verlander is feeling right and moving well in his delivery first.
Verlander, who returned to the Tigers in February as a free agent on a one-year contract, allowed five runs on six hits over 3 2/3 innings in his Tigers return Monday at Arizona. His hip issue is believed to have started during that outing. His work since that start has focused on moving better in his delivery and more direct to the plate, though he did not mention injury as an issue.
“Trying to be a little more deceptive and stay in line a little bit longer,” the 43-year-old Verlander said Friday. “Just like we talked about after [Monday’s] game, it wasn’t good enough. I hope it’s not like last year, when I spent months trying to find it. Hopefully, I can find it a little quicker than that. But I think talking to analysts and those guys who said the stuff was actually pretty good, so not too far away, I don’t think, I hope.”
Verlander threw Saturday morning to see if he was good to go for Sunday Night Baseball against the Cardinals. The Tigers announced the move afterward.
The raucous ovation Verlander received during pregame introductions Friday, and when he squatted behind home plate to catch former teammate Brandon Inge’s ceremonial first pitch, was indicative of how much his return means to Detroit fans and how big his Sunday night start could be. The Tigers had sold a good number of tickets ahead of time in anticipation of Verlander’s start, despite forecasted cooler conditions.
Right-hander Keider Montero was recalled from Triple-A Toledo and is expected to start in Verlander’s place Sunday night. Montero was lined up to start for the Mud Hens on Sunday at Syracuse, so he will be pitching on his regular turn. He tossed four scoreless innings with three strikeouts for the Hens in his season debut on March 29 at Lehigh Valley.