Detroit — Justin Verlander’s disappointment was palpable.
“I know a lot of fans were excited about tomorrow night and I know a lot of people spent their hard-earned money to come to the game,” he said. “It’s frustrating for me, obviously…Not how I wanted my first start at home to go. I was looking foward to it.”
The Tigers, before their 11-6 win over the Cardinals Saturday, announced that Verlander will be placed on the 15-day IL with left hip inflammation. The move will be retroactive to April 1. Thus, his much-anticipated, nationally-broadcast first start at Comerica Park since re-signing with the Tigers in February is off.
“Man, he’s tough,” manager AJ Hinch said. “He wanted to push through it. But when we decided he was not going to be able to make the start, which was right around lunchtime (Saturday), it didn’t make any sense. With the time of year, we’re going to err on the side of caution.”
Right-hander Keider Montero has been called-up from Triple-A Toledo and he will start the finale against the Cardinals Sunday night.
“During my last start, it just started to get a little tight in my left hamstring,” Verlander said. “I was working through it but it was really sore the next day or two. But it’s been trending in the right direction.”
He threw before the game Saturday and said it felt the best it has.
“To be quite frank, I think it probably is good enough if we wanted to push it,” Verlander said. “But AJ and the front office and I agree, it’s probably not the time of year to do that, unfortunately. And we don’t have a day off to kind of finagle it.”
The encouraging part, both Verlander and Hinch said, is that he will be able to keep throwing while the inflammation is treated and that the 15 days should be enough time to get it right.
“It’s nothing too bad,” Verlander said. “We’ve got it under control. We know what it is. It’s just difficult because I feel like it’s close to being able to just work through it. But the timing is bad, the weather is bad and the schedule is bad. Everything worked against it, unfortunately.
“Trying to be smart early on. Trying to be cautious. But it’s still difficult.”
Verlander made one start for the Tigers, in Detroit’s 9-6 loss at Arizona on Monday night. He gave up six hits and five earned runs in 3 2/3 innings, with one strikeout and two walks. He refused to use the hip soreness as an excuse.
“We need to put him on the IL and get this out of the way,” Hinch said. “Having him alter his deliver or tweak something further makes no sense.”
Chris.McCosky@detroitnews.com
@cmccosky
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Justin Verlander goes on injured list for Detroit Tigers
Reporting by Chris McCosky, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
