Justin Verlander has won multiple World Series, he’s thrown multiple no-hitters, he’s won all of the awards.
What’s left to accomplish? That was the question posed to him by New York Yankees legend and Hall-of-Famer Derek Jeter ahead of Tuesday’s All-Star Game in Philadelphia.
“Just to get healthy and pitch successfully,” Verlander said in an interview with the Fox Sports panel before Monday’s Home Run Derby, also joined on the stage by Hall-of-Famer David Ortiz as well as Alex Rodriguez. “It’s been so hard for me to not be able to be out there and do what I love to do.
“I don’t think there’s any goals … (300 wins, 4,000 strikeouts), I’ve run out of time. It’s just not feasible.
“Just go out with a bang.”
Verlander, 43, in his 10th All-Star Game as a legend’s selection by commissioner Rob Manfred, has made just one start this season, after rejoining his original team, the Tigers, over the offseason. He’s been out since April with a hip injury and a hamstring injury.
He announced earlier this month he will retire at season’s end, but he wants to return to the mound down the stretch.
“Figure out how to again adapt and be successful one last time,” Verlander told the Fox Sports panel, “and hopefully catch lightning in a bottle and help us do something special down the stretch.”
Verlander made two World Series with the Tigers, in 2006 and 2012, but they lost both of them, and haven’t won a World Series since 1984. He won two World Series with the Houston Astros.
The Tigers entered this season with major World Series expectations, but got off to a slow start that included a horrible May. They spent June and July digging out of that hole. They entered the All-Star break at 44-52 and 6.5 games out of first place in the American League Central. The Tigers face an Aug. 3 deadline to decide whether they’re in contention and can justify not trading away ace, two-time Cy Young winner and looming free agent Tarik Skubal.
“You accept the responsibility of being a good team, know that those expectations are on you and you can either answer those expectations or you can’t,” Verlander said. “And we’ll find out if we’re good or not.
“For the last two months, we’ve shown that we are a good ballclub.
“Hopefully we can carry that down the stretch and be successful.”
Verlander still hasn’t pitched at Comerica Park this season, and he hasn’t pitched in Detroit as a Tiger since August 2017, before he was traded to the Houston Astros.
Twice, he’s been scheduled for starts at Comerica Park, only for them to be scratched by injury.
“I feel like I’m plugging holes in a leaky boat, something else is always popping up,” Verlander said. “It just became quite apparently to me that my body’s not quite about to do what I need to do to be successful at the level that I expect to be at. (Retirement) was a tough decision to come to, but ultimately I’m in a good head space about it.
“You never think this day will come, and the next thing you know, it’s just on you.”
tpaul@detroitnews.com
@tonypaul1984
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Tigers’ All-Star Justin Verlander has one last goal: ‘Go out with a bang’
Reporting by Tony Paul, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Tony Paul, The Detroit News | USA TODAY Network
