Justin Verlander is still hanging around the Tigers’ dugout, still part of the scene, still visible enough to spark the kind of hope Detroit fans know better than to trust.
He’s been there watching the younger guys deliver moments like Kevin McGonigle’s first career walk-off and Troy Melton’s seven shutout innings. On television, those shots of Verlander can feel almost sentimental, like the old star of one Tigers era witnessing the next one take shape. But that feeling gets undercut fast when the reality is that Detroit is paying him $13 million for a season that has produced just one start so far.
The closest thing to a real sign of progress came over the weekend, when Verlander threw off a mound. He told AJ Hinch it was “ almost a bullpen.”
That’s hardly a ringing endorsement for anyone hoping to see one more start in a Tigers uniform.
The last real opening for that kind of sendoff came on Father’s Day, June 21, when Verlander still had a chance to take the ball at Comerica Park. Instead, he was scratched two days earlier because of a hamstring injury.
After that, he said, " I've always said I want to play until the wheels fall off. And I don't know, maybe they are falling off."
A few weeks later, he announced his retirement.
At this point, any return would be ceremonial more than competitive. If the Tigers somehow make a run in the Wild Card race by the end of September, they may not even want to squeeze him into a game. The more realistic scenario, if everything lined up perfectly, would be a brief courtesy inning in a blowout.
There are still fans who would love to see him take the mound once more, especially at his first major league ballpark, to give his career a proper ending. But with 26 games left and the best update being “almost a bullpen,” Detroit isn’t in any position to promise that.
So the answer remains the same old maybe. Maybe he will, maybe he won’t. And for now, that’s all the Tigers have.
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