BOSTON – Justin Verlander was planning to travel with the Detroit Tigers to Fenway Park. He also was supposed to complete a bullpen session at some point during the four-game series against the Boston Red Sox.
Verlander remains sidelined with left hip inflammation.
And he continues to deal with soreness.
Both the travel and bullpen plans were canceled, as the Tigers left Verlander behind in Michigan. Manager A.J. Hinch still isn’t calling it a setback – and the injury isn’t more severe than initially expected – but Verlander won’t take the next step in the recovery process until he feels healthy.
“We’re just listening to his symptoms,” Hinch said Saturday, April 18, before the second of four games against the Red Sox. “I don’t think it makes it more severe. I don’t think it’s playing the long game. I think it’s just respecting the fact that he’s not 100%, and we’re not going to put him out there until he can complete the full return-to-play cycle.”
The 43-year-old played catch Tuesday to keep his arm moving – only not at Fenway Park.
The Tigers will touch base with Verlander to gather more information upon returning to Comerica Park on Tuesday for the opener of a three-game series against the Milwaukee Brewers.
“We still fell like this has been a relatively minor injury for him to deal with,” Hinch said, “but it’s significant enough to mean he can’t pitch. It’s just a slower process, not a more significant injury.”
Without Verlander, the Tigers have relied on right-hander Keider Montero. The 25-year-old has a 3.31 ERA with two walks and 15 strikeouts across 16⅓ innings in three starts. He hasn’t finished a season with a sub-4.00 ERA since 2019 at the lower levels of the minor leagues, but right now, he is pitching better than ever before.
The Tigers’ rotation ranks 10th in MLB with a 3.49 ERA through 20 games.
It would be a 3.19 ERA without Verlander.
The Tigers placed Verlander on the injured list April 4, retroactive to April 1 – following one start. The 21-year MLB veteran allowed five runs on six hits and two walks with one strikeout across 3⅔ innings March 30 against the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Verlander has been on the injured list in each of the past seven seasons, from 2020-26.
This time, there isn’t a timetable for Verlander’s return.
“We’ve got to respect the soreness and inflammation that he’s dealing with,” Hinch said before Tuesday’s game. “He’s still working out. It’s just going a little bit slower, so we’re going to respect it and give him the time he needs between throwing sessions. It’s not like the normal cadence of every five days. There’s a gap here in which he’s not going to get off the mound here in Boston, so we left him back.”
Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him @EvanPetzold.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Justin Verlander injury update: Travel plans to Fenway Park canceled
Reporting by Evan Petzold, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
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