DETROIT — Justin Verlander sat in the visiting clubhouse at Progressive Field on Friday morning, going through the familiar rhythms of a Hall of Fame career. Another day at the park. Another rainy day in Cleveland.
But unlike every other sleepy September morning, Verlander knows he has reached an odd precipice. His legendary run is near its end. He is retiring after the season. Thursday, the Tigers announced they will honor Verlander with a two-day celebration Sept. 25 and 26 at Comerica Park. The ramp is running out.
“You start just trudging along through the course of the season, and next thing you know, it’s over,” Verlander said. “It’s crazy to think that we’re a month away. Just trying to take it in, but at the same time, it’s like, ‘s—, man, it’s going fast again,’ even though I’m trying to slow it down and appreciate it.”
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One massive question still looms over all this: Will Verlander ever set foot on a major-league mound again? And if so, what will that look like?
All that remains hard to know.
Verlander has pitched only once this season, back at the end of March. He went on the injured list with a hip injury. Just as it seemed he was nearing a return, his hamstring flared up. Twice he was scheduled to pitch at Comerica Park. Twice he was scratched.
Verlander has remained determined to return to the mound. He is a prideful pitcher with an inner fire that still burns. His ego and competitive desire once served as his greatest strengths. Now those same traits have turned to enemies. Verlander knows his body simply can’t do everything he wants it to, which makes some of the questions impossible to answer.
“I did the thing I’ve always done my entire career, and that’s try to push, smartly, through some stuff to get back,” Verlander said. “My hamstring just wouldn’t allow it this time. It kept setting me back a week, two weeks, a few weeks, and that happened a few times, and obviously, it’s at the point where if that happens again, I’ve got no shot at pitching.”
There have been signs of progress lately. Verlander has resumed throwing off a mound. He felt good about his session earlier this week in Minnesota. He is still making every road trip with the Tigers, working closely with coaches and trainers but also hanging on to every last moment of his final ride.
In Minnesota, the Twins played a tribute for him on the Target Field video board. Verlander has said he doesn’t want this to become some sappy farewell tour. But he’s also not fighting the wistfulness that keeps finding new ways to set in.
“I’m trying to enjoy the ride,” Verlander said. “Just whatever emotion there is, just embrace it, enjoy it. … There’s a lot of things that tell me it’s the right time, too. I’m pretty committed that this is the right decision.”
Verlander has talked about his family often this year. He has two children now. He spent two hours on a video call with his daughter Friday morning, helping her write a school paper.
“She’s missing me bad, and I want to be there for her,” Verlander said. “There’s so many things. And then what I’ve dealt with physically …”
Verlander’s thought trailed off.
Rainy day or not, the calendar keeps moving forward. Life in the major leagues is full of routine. As grueling and monotonous as the season can be, your brain also gets used to the structure. Time moves fast when you are inside this machine.
“I’m coming in every day with an intent and trying to get my rehab done and do something,” Verlander said. “It kind of distracts you from a lot of the emotion of things.”
Verlander might be unlikely to build back to a full workload. But he also does not face the usual restrictions. There is no future to preserve.
“It’s not like I need to go through the same rehab process a 25-year-old kid would go through to make sure he protects his arm and to build up,” Verlander, 43, said. “Who cares? Break it. Or try to.”
He said those words half-jokingly, but he also said: “There’s some stuff in the hamstring that’s not going to go away.” Pushing the issue, he said, “could risk pulling it off completely.” It’s a risk Verlander seems willing to take.
Justin Verlander is “working tirelessly to be able to post at least one more time,” Tigers manager A.J. Hinch says. (Chris Coduto / Getty Images)
“It’s either that or just stop pitching,” he said. “I really want to give it a go.”
Verlander is no longer chasing the horizon. There is an end in sight. The balance at hand, though, is delicate. No great player wants to limp away.
“Of course we want him to pitch,” Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said. “I would love for it to be as often as he can, but I just don’t know how much time we have with the things he has to do between now and then. He’s working tirelessly to be able to post at least one more time. Whether that would be a short stint, long stint, where it would be in the game, all that stuff is sort of open conversation between now and then.”
In our minds, legends are not supposed to have limits. But if Verlander can’t hold his velocity, if his workload is severely hampered, if he simply doesn’t feel good about his stuff … would he still pitch? Well, it’s complicated.
“That question largely depends on where we are at as a team,” Verlander said. “I’m not going to go out there and hamstring our organization, our team and the work these guys put in if we’re in position to go to the playoffs.”
Verlander laughed at his own joke — hamstring — then continued.
“If I don’t feel like I’m able to provide us a good chance to win, then that’s not fair to anybody else,” he said. “If we’re not (in the playoff picture), then I think maybe that is a little bit different. But I wouldn’t go out there hurt.”
Even as he acknowledges reality, those old embers are still hot to the touch. Verlander talked Friday, occasionally taking off his cap and running a hand through his hair. Toward the end of a reflective 10 minutes, Eminem’s “Without Me” started playing in the clubhouse.
In an ideal world, Verlander’s return to the mound would be competitive, not ceremonial.
“Hell yeah,” Verlander said. “I’m not trying to go out there and make a fool of myself. But if I’m healthy enough to do it, then I don’t see why I can’t.”
There’s a chance Verlander will pitch multiple times before that farewell weekend. There’s a chance it becomes a lone inning or two, one last hurrah. There’s still a chance it never happens at all, that Verlander threw his last major-league pitch in a March game in Arizona and no one knew it.
“There’s so many different things to evaluate right now,” Verlander said. “I don’t think it does anybody any good to try to forecast anything, including myself. That’s helping me with this balancing act a little bit. I’m just letting things play out and doing my thing every day to try to get as close as I can, and at the same time not push it like I normally do. That’s probably the hardest part.”