CLEVELAND -- In an ideal world, Justin Verlander would be getting ready to return to the Tigers rotation and pitch against his other notable former team, the Astros. In reality, the former MVP will indeed be pitching in Houston on Monday; it’ll just be in a simulated game instead of the Tigers’ series opener.
The road back to the rotation has been longer than Verlander or the Tigers expected or wanted. He will get there; manager A.J. Hinch talks about the 43-year-old’s return as a matter of time. In that aspect, the fact that they want to keep Verlander on a regular five-day routine is a good sign that they have his return lined up.
“He's getting close to being back,” Hinch said. “He knows where we're at. He also knows where the schedule's at.”
Still, the sight of Verlander giving up four solo homers in his rehab start for Triple-A Toledo last Wednesday wasn’t the look of a pitcher more than ready to succeed against big-league hitters, no matter how badly Verlander wants to get back to that.
“Just a day-by-day approach, just trying to do what I can to get out there,” Verlander said. “I really just want to be out there and pitch. That's the best way to find out where you're at. Obviously, [it's] disappointing, but we'll see.”
Said Hinch: “It's a really straightforward conversation with him coming out of his last rehab outing. I think he felt fine. Whether fine is good enough is always something we're tackling.”
The idea that Verlander will get an uptick -- in velocity, and maybe in precision -- from the adrenaline of facing Major League competition is a worthy one. But it’s also not a panacea.
“I believe him; he’s pitched for 20 years,” Hinch said. “He knows himself very well and he knows the adrenaline boost. And I think it comes out in a lot of different ways. Everybody automatically thinks you can add 2-3 miles per hour. That didn’t happen with Tarik [Skubal], as an example. He was throwing 99 in his sim games, 99 in his rehab [start], 99 [on Saturday]. You probably could round up to 100.
“So I don’t really know how to gauge that. I do think there is a difference between a Major League game and any other game you’ll ever pitch in. And I trust him to know the difference in the uptick in stuff and how it impacts his stuff in particular. We’re going to lean on that, for sure; that’s the next test for him after getting through this session.”
Slotting Verlander back into the rotation becomes easier later than now, if they can get their rotation settled in the coming days after bringing back Tarik Skubal and Casey Mize. The Tigers still can go with a six-man rotation after placing Jack Flaherty on the injured list. A six-man rotation is more likely than a piggyback start, a tactic the Mariners used to stretch out Bryce Miller and Luis Castillo.
“We'll see how this week plays out,” Hinch said. “We like that he's trending in the right direction. I think he continues to do his work in the 'pen. He's going to throw a sim game in Houston and then we're going to go from there.”