LAKELAND, FL – Justin Verlander doesn’t pretend otherwise.
He is an emotional person.
The 43-year-old right-hander waved his cap to the crowd when he received his first of several standing ovations from Detroit Tigers fans while walking from the bullpen to the dugout Friday, March 6, ahead of his first spring training start at Joker Marchant Stadium. He picked up three more standing ovations during the game.
“Really cool,” Verlander said.
Verlander allowed two runs on two hits and two walks with four strikeouts across two-plus innings, throwing 50 pitches. He couldn’t complete the first inning, but the re-entry rule in spring training allowed him to return for the second and third.
That’s when he settled in.
“Walking out there, to hear the fans, I think I’m going to have to really focus on not being emotional this year,” Verlander said after the Tigers’ 11-3 win over the Boston Red Sox. “Maybe it will just be the first couple of times. I don’t know. But obviously they showed their love, and I appreciate it. It’s really special.”
Verlander wants to make something clear.
He didn’t return to the Tigers on a one-year, $13 million contract for the final season of his Hall of Fame-caliber career, so this isn’t a farewell tour. He still wants to pitch until age 45, continues to chase 300 wins (needing 34 more to get there) and believes he can keep going for another two or three years.
But he isn’t hiding from reality.
A significant injury would bring his career to an end.
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“I don’t know how much longer I’m going to play,” said Verlander, who doesn’t want to undergo another major surgery and the ensuing rehab process after having Tommy John surgery in October 2020. “I know there’s not a lot of time left, especially in the grand scheme of things. If I play for another two years, three years, whatever it is, out of 21 [years], it’s like nothing. I’m just trying to enjoy it a little more.”
That mindset isn’t limited to spring training.
He plans to carry it into the regular season, too.
“Being present and enjoying it,” Verlander said. “I don’t want to sit here and sound like this is it. It could be. It’s a one-year contract. If something catastrophic goes wrong, or I can’t be healthy, that’s it – I’m done. All I know is there’s not that much time left, so enjoy it while you can.”
In Friday’s start, Verlander experienced ups and downs against the Red Sox.
He walked leadoff hitter Braiden Ward in the first inning, as the ABS challenge system turned a strikeout into a walk, then gave up a two-run home run to Kristian Campbell on a down-and-away sweeper. Those two batters soaked up 18 of his 50 pitches – 36% of his workload.
His fastball averaged 94 mph, while his slider generated six whiffs on 14 swings.
“I thought the results were fairly good,” Verlander said. “Later in the game, especially the last inning when I made the adjustment on my slider and got the location better, I got a lot of the pitch results I wanted – swing results, I should say. I thought the changeup was good. Overall, I thought it was fairly decent.”
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In five days, Verlander will make another start in spring training. In about 25 days, he will make his first start in the regular season. And in roughly 30 days – possibly on April 5 against the St. Louis Cardinals – he will make his first home start, returning to Comerica Park as a Tiger for the first time since August 2017.
The journey began with his first spring training start.
Verlander savored it.
“I’m an emotional person,” Verlander said, reflecting on the past three weeks since returning to the Tigers, where he played from 2005-17. “I don’t think it’s caught me by surprise at all. Walking on the field today, walking to the dugout got me a little bit. That maybe surprised me a tad. But I embrace that. It’s who I am. It’s nostalgic for a good reason.”
Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him @EvanPetzold.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Justin Verlander isn’t hiding with Tigers: 2026 could be final season
Reporting by Evan Petzold, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
