Justin

Verlander

Verlander looked sharp in his first rehab outing, firing five shutout innings and sustaining his velocity over 64 pitches. If all goes well, this will be his final tune-up before making his triumphant return to the Tigers’ rotation. With Casey Mize and Tarik Skubal also expected to rejoin the Tigers’ rotation in the next week or so, the club will have some major decisions to make on how to structure their rotation. It’s possible that they move to a six-man rotation for a couple of turns and/or use a piggyback situation with a couple of their starters.

Verlander scattered four hits and averaged 93.5 mph on his fastball during his latest rehab outing. The really encouraging sign here is that he was able to sustain his velocity through the 64-pitch outing. The 43-year-old future Hall of Famer figures to rejoin Detroit’s rotation this weekend to take the ball against the Mariners at Comerica Park. He’s been on the shelf recovering from a hip impingement since early April.

The 43-year-old right-hander has taken a long time to recover from a hip impingement that has sidelined him since early April. He’s finally making tangible strides toward a return though and it’s possible that if Tuesday’s start goes well that he could be cleared to rejoin the Tigers’ rotation.

Verlander reportedly got his fastball up to 95.2 mph and threw 62 pitches in the outing. The 43-year-old appears to be closing in on a rehab assignment, and assuming there are no setbacks, there’s a good chance he’s back in the Detroit bullpen before the end of June.

Verlander sat 92-93 mph with his fastball and touched 96 mph, according to Chris McCosky of the Detroit News. He gave up three homers while facing Wenceel Pérez and Jahmai Jones. The next step for Verlander would seem to be a rehab assignment.

Verlander will be eligible to return May 31 and might be ready around then after progressing to facing hitters this weekend. He’s been limited to one start this season by hip inflammation.

The general assumption is that Verlander will need at least one minor league rehab outing before returning to Detroit’s rotation since he’s been on the shelf with hip inflammation since early April. There should be a definitive update on his potential return timeline at some point later this weekend or early next week.

It sounds like the 43-year-old right-hander is finally making tangible strides towards a potential return. If all goes well with Saturday’s session, he could be cleared for a minor league rehab start. Given the plethora of injuries that the Tigers are battling in their rotation at the moment, they could use Verlander back as soon as possible.

Hinch added that Verlander will face hitters again later this week. The 43-year-old veteran remains without a definitive timeline to rejoin Detroit’s rotation. However, there might be a bit more urgency to get him back with ace Tarik Skubal set to miss a couple months following elbow surgery. Verlander has been on the shelf since early April with hip inflammation.

It sounds like if everything goes well with that session that he’ll be cleared to face live hitters. Whether or not that’s on a minor league rehab assignment or in a controlled environment remains to be seen. The 43-year-old hurler has been sidelined since the beginning of April due to right hip inflammation.