Overview
- Detroit announced that Justin Verlander will rejoin the Tigers' rotation on Sunday to face the Chicago White Sox after building his workload in Triple-A and simulated games.
- Verlander has been sidelined with left-hip inflammation since early April and was moved to the 60-day injured list as the club managed his recovery.
- In Toledo he completed a 64-pitch, five-inning scoreless rehab start and a later 5.2-inning outing that included four home runs and an 86-pitch workload, giving the club mixed performance data to evaluate.
- Manager A.J. Hinch said the team increased Verlander's volume and intensity in rehab and will monitor pitch counts, velocity readings and exit velocity to judge his readiness.
- The move follows Jack Flaherty landing on the injured list and could lead Detroit to use a six-man rotation to protect workload while Verlander provides veteran leadership for younger starters.