Detroit — Justin Verlander, out with left hip inflammation since April 1, was encouraged by his bullpen session Saturday.
“I thought it went pretty well,” he said. “It felt about as good as I would like to at this point. Well, that’s not true. Obviously I’d like it to feel 100 percent.
“But it’s tracking about like you’d expect. Yesterday was a good step forward, for sure.”
Verlander, 43, estimated he threw 40-plus pitches at high intensity.
Manager AJ Hinch said after the Tigers beat the Marlins 8-2 Sunday that Verlander will likely need another bullpen session before making a rehab start.
“That was largely dependent on how I felt today and you guys are talking to me before I’ve talked to the trainers. I don’t know the answer to that,” he said. “But it’s bounced back pretty good. I’m going to tell them I didn’t take a step back after the high intensity work yesterday. Everything is moving forward. It’s a great sign.”
Hinch said on Saturday that Verlander would need at least one rehab start before being activated, whether it be a simulated game against Tigers hitters or a Triple-A start with Toledo.
“Either one gets the job done,” Verlander said. “But that’s getting ahead of ourselves a little bit. We have to look at schedules and stuff. A sim game would be a little easier, but I don’t know how the training staff feels about that versus a little more of a competitive atmosphere. I’ve done both to get back to a Major League game mound.
“The thing I have going for me is both of these things are options because I’ve been able to keep throwing.”
Chris.McCosky@detroitnews.com
@cmccosky
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Tigers’ Justin Verlander ‘moving forward’ after bullpen session
Reporting by Chris McCosky, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
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