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Verlander brought one of the most storied pitching careers in recent memory to a close with his final appearance at Comerica Park, throwing 91 pitches before leaving the mound alongside his daughter Genevieve to a standing ovation in the sixth inning. How can you not be romantic about baseball? He carried a shutout into the fourth before serving up a solo homer to Brandon Lowe. He surrendered another solo shot to Jacob Gonzalez in the ensuing frame but otherwise kept Pittsburgh off the scoreboard. The 43-year-old future Hall of Famer concludes a 21-year run in the big leagues as a two-time World Series champion, three-time Cy Young Award winner, 10-time All-Star and 2011 AL MVP. He finishes eighth on the all-time strikeout leaderboard with 3,560 punchouts to go along with a sparkling 3.33 ERA across 3,576 2/3 innings over 557 starts since 2005. Next stop, Cooperstown.

Verlander will take the ball Saturday afternoon against the Pirates at Comerica Park for the final start of his legendary 21-year career. 43-year-old future Hall of Famer will retire as a three-time Cy Young Award winner and the 2011 AL MVP. He enters his final outing eighth on the all-time strikeout list, just ahead of former Tigers teammate Max Scherzer, with 3,554 punchouts that he’s accumulated over more than two decades since 2005. He has been sidelined by hip and hamstring issues since early April.

Verlander’s final major league start will be his first action since making a second rehab start for Triple-A Toledo in June. He’ll be facing the Pirates on Saturday after missing most of the year with hip and hamstring injuries.

Verlander is attempting to make it back for the final start of his Hall of Fame career at Comerica Park against the Pirates next weekend. The 43-year-old icon is scheduled to throw another bullpen session early next week to determine whether he’s ready to take the ball one final time before hanging up his spikes. He’s been out with hip and hamstring issues since early April.

It’s not hyperbolic to suggest that this bullpen session, in addition to an upcoming minor league rehab start, will go a long way towards determining whether Verlander makes one last start for Detroit before officially hanging up his spikes at the end of the season. The 43-year-old future Hall of Fame starter has been on the shelf with hip and hamstring issues since early April.

At least, that’s how Hinch described Verlander’s words. Verlander, who in July announced he’d retire at the end of the season, might make it back for a cameo appearance next month. He’s been on the injured list since Apr. 4 with hip and hamstring injuries.

The Tigers are holding out hope that Verlander will be able to pitch before the end of the regular season, but the fact that he’s hasn’t progressed to throwing bullpen sessions means that he isn’t remotely close. He’s been shut down with a hamstring strain since mid-June. The 43-year-old future Hall of Famer is set to retire at season’s end and would undoubtedly relish the opportunity to take the mound in Detroit one last time before hanging up his spikes.

In a social media post, Verlander, who was given a legacy spot in this year’s All-Star game, said that he always wanted “the game to tell [him] when it was time” to retire and “over the least several months, [he] realized that the time has come. Verlander has pitched just 3 2/3 innings this season while dealing with hip and hamstring issues. The 43-year-old currently has a 3.33 career ERA and 266 wins in 556 MLB starts. He will look to add to those numbers down the stretch for the Tigers this season before calling it a career.

First it was going to be Saturday, then it was going to be Sunday, and now it’s not going to happen at all. Verlander remains on the 60-day injured list, but the 43-year-old is finding it hard to get healthy enough to get back on the mound and this latest setback will likely put him out for a few more weeks. The Tigers will likely have Keider Montero start Sunday’s game.

Verlander will make his return to Detroit’s rotation after missing 11 weeks due to a hip issue. It’ll be Keider Montero moving to the bullpen to make room. The 43-year-old future Hall of Famer threw a 66-pitch simulated game at Daikin Park on Monday and shouldn’t have any workload restrictions in his return from the injured list. It’ll be his first start at Comerica Park in a Tigers uniform since 2017.

Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press speculates that Verlander is healthy but the Tigers don’t seem to think he’s ready to pitch in the majors from a performance standpoint, which is why he didn’t take the ball for Monday’s series opener against the Astros. There’s a chance the club decides he’s ready later this week, especially since Troy Melton is now dealing with a back issue that throws his availability into question.

Verlander continues to make strides toward a return to the Tigers’ rotation. If all goes well with Monday’s outing, there’s a chance that he could return for next weekend’s series against the White Sox. It’s unclear if the Tigers plan to go to a six-man rotation or if they’ll work out a piggyback situation with a pair of their starters upon Verlander’s return.

Verlander struck out three and issued a pair of walks. He gave up only five hits, but four of them wound up leaving the yard. The encouraging news here is that he averaged 92.9 mph on his fastball, topping out at 95.5 mph, and threw 53 of 86 pitches for strikes in his likely final rehab outing. The 43-year-old veteran has been out since early April due to a hip issue. He’ll likely rejoin Detroit’s rotation at some point early next week.

Verlander looked sharp in his first rehab outing, firing five shutout innings and sustaining his velocity over 64 pitches. If all goes well, this will be his final tune-up before making his triumphant return to the Tigers’ rotation. With Casey Mize and Tarik Skubal also expected to rejoin the Tigers’ rotation in the next week or so, the club will have some major decisions to make on how to structure their rotation. It’s possible that they move to a six-man rotation for a couple of turns and/or use a piggyback situation with a couple of their starters.

Verlander scattered four hits and averaged 93.5 mph on his fastball during his latest rehab outing. The really encouraging sign here is that he was able to sustain his velocity through the 64-pitch outing. The 43-year-old future Hall of Famer figures to rejoin Detroit’s rotation this weekend to take the ball against the Mariners at Comerica Park. He’s been on the shelf recovering from a hip impingement since early April.

The 43-year-old right-hander has taken a long time to recover from a hip impingement that has sidelined him since early April. He’s finally making tangible strides toward a return though and it’s possible that if Tuesday’s start goes well that he could be cleared to rejoin the Tigers’ rotation.

Verlander reportedly got his fastball up to 95.2 mph and threw 62 pitches in the outing. The 43-year-old appears to be closing in on a rehab assignment, and assuming there are no setbacks, there’s a good chance he’s back in the Detroit bullpen before the end of June.

Verlander sat 92-93 mph with his fastball and touched 96 mph, according to Chris McCosky of the Detroit News. He gave up three homers while facing Wenceel Pérez and Jahmai Jones. The next step for Verlander would seem to be a rehab assignment.

Verlander will be eligible to return May 31 and might be ready around then after progressing to facing hitters this weekend. He’s been limited to one start this season by hip inflammation.

The general assumption is that Verlander will need at least one minor league rehab outing before returning to Detroit’s rotation since he’s been on the shelf with hip inflammation since early April. There should be a definitive update on his potential return timeline at some point later this weekend or early next week.