Tigers' Justin Verlander takes step forward as 'frustrating' IL stint continues

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Gregory Shamus / Getty Images Share article1DETROIT — Justin Verlander is the oldest player in Major League Baseball, but he is still learning to be patient. When the 43-year-old went on the injured list April 4 with left hip inflammation, the hope was he could return in short order. Instead, Verlander’s time on the injured list has caused him to miss four starts and counting. He still has not pitched in front of Comerica Park fans in a season expected to be a cathartic homecoming. Verlander’s Wednesday bullpen session represented a step forward, but it remains unclear how much longer it will be before he returns to the rotation. “It’s hard,” Verlander said Thursday morning. “I think the hardest time of this is the first time you have to submit that you’re not going to be able to make your next start. That, for me, is always the biggest hurdle. You just want to fight through and battle and say, ‘F— it — I can do it, and I’m going to pitch.’ And then when you come to the realization that you’re not quite able to do that, that’s the hardest step for me. “Once you make that decision, then I can reason with myself a little bit more clear-minded, to make sure I put myself in a situation to come back healthy or not rush it or do something stupid. … That’s the dance that you have to do, which is not easy.” After a bullpen session last week did not go according to plan, it became clear Verlander’s stay on the injured list would become more complicated. Verlander was supposed to travel with the team to Boston but instead stayed in Detroit, still dealing with soreness. Finally, though, Verlander seems to be trending in the right direction. Tigers manager A.J. Hinch called Verlander’s Wednesday bullpen “encouraging,” and Verlander bounced back well Thursday morning. “I think the last time I tried to really step on it, I don’t want to say it was a full step back, but it didn’t respond the way I wanted or that anybody wanted,” Verlander said. “So, that was disappointing. After yesterday, it didn’t do that, which is good. It’s taken a little longer than I think we expected, which is frustrating.” Verlander said he was pleased with his mechanics in Wednesday’s bullpen, something that could be an important benchmark in his rehab progression. “It’s one of those things that you can push through, which is good,” Verlander said. “On the other hand, I think mechanically, when I was really trying to step on it, it was affecting my mechanics a little bit. So that’s where, OK, well, it’s affecting mechanics. I don’t care how much pain you can work through — you don’t want to cut off your nose to spite your face and maybe do something you don’t want to do physically.” The next steps for Verlander aren’t clear. He’s likely to throw at least one more bullpen session before moving to live competition. He will need at least one simulated game or rehab start before returning to major-league play. But the longer his IL stint lingers, the longer his return-to-play process could take. In Verlander’s place, right-hander Keider Montero has pitched well for the Tigers, carding a 3.68 ERA. Hinch said Verlander will join the Tigers on their upcoming trip to Cincinnati and Atlanta while the team determines the next steps. “We’ll be with him every day and just continue to pay attention to the symptoms and see what he can handle,” Hinch said. “I know he was mildly happy with the (Wednesday) session just because he’s a perfectionist. But it was progress, whatever that means. He’s going to need to do more and more to really have a distinct plan.” Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms