Detroit Tigers pitcher Justin Verlander has been recovering from a hip injury he suffered in the beginning of April, but now he’ll be sidelined again with a new injury.
He was scratched from Saturday’s start with a left hamstring injury that team manager A.J. Hinch said will sideline him for weeks instead of days.
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After the late scratch, Verlander alluded to the possibility of retirement after this season.
“At this point, I’m in the middle of a season. You guys have known me long enough,” he said. “There’s no giving up. This is halfway through a season that I committed to the Tigers for.”
“Once that happens, I don’t know, man. … I’ve always said I want to play until the wheels fall off. I don’t know, maybe they are falling off. I hope not.”
The 43-year-old has only made one start this season, a March 30 outing during which he gave up six hits and five runs in just under four innings.
After battling off a hip injury for over two months, Verlander’s disappointed that he’ll remain on the injured list with a new injury.
“This is the first time anything like this has happened to me, where it’s consecutive injuries,” he said. “This whole process has been agonizingly long for me, especially considering where we were early on in thinking it was going to be a short-term injury. It’s disappointing to say the least.”
If this season is truly the end of Verlander’s career, he’ll retire in the top 10 all-time in MLB strikeouts, despite being out of the top 50 all-time in innings pitched.
James Parker is a sports writer for Ball Exclusives, follow him on X @TheJames_Parker
