Verlander Slated To Make His First Start Of Season On Saturday
By Ashley Dunkak
@AshleyDunkak
DETROIT - Justin Verlander will make his first start of the season Saturday against the Cleveland Indians, Detroit Tigers manager Brad Ausmus announced Tuesday afternoon.
Verlander looked strong in his rehab assignment over the weekend, allowing four hits and one unearned run and striking out nine over 5 2/3 innings for the Toledo Mud Hens on Saturday.
Ausmus said the team will not have a specific pitch count for Verlander against the Indians.
"We can't go crazy with him, but he went 93 pitches [in his last rehab outing], so you've got some room above that to go," Ausmus said. "There's no hard cap, but we certainly couldn't go up to 115 pitches with him.
"I'm looking for him to pitch well," Ausmus continued. "It's still a little bit of a strengthening, building-up process for him, it's only his third start since the injury, but like I said, his pitch count is up and over 90, so there's not a lot of restraints. If he throws well, we'll roll with him."
Ausmus said Verlander threw another bullpen Tuesday and felt good. Verlander has been on the disabled list since the beginning of the season with a strained triceps.
Verlander, who won the Cy Young and the MVP in 2011, had one of the worst seasons of his career last year, allowing more earned runs than any other pitcher in the American League.
