Justin Verlander’s rehab continues with another Triple-A start for Toledo

Justin Verlander will make another rehab start for Triple-A Toledo on Wednesday, an effort the Detroit Tigers are using to line him up for a return to the rotation the following week. The latest step keeps the timeline deliberately cautious, even as Verlander has already shown the upside the club wants as he builds both arm strength and game rhythm after a left hip injury sidelined him beginning at the end of March.

Verlander’s most recent outing came last Tuesday against Iowa, when he tossed five scoreless innings with three strikeouts for the Mud Hens. According to the Tigers, the focus now is workload. In his previous start, Verlander threw 64 pitches over five innings, and he will try to stretch that total toward roughly 75 pitches this time around.

By design, the rehab schedule means Verlander will not return to Comerica Park for the Tigers’ upcoming homestand. Detroit is sticking with its current four-man rotation for the series against the Twins, with Troy Melton, Framber Valdez and Keider Montero listed among the starters as Verlander stays in the minor-league buildup.

Instead of making his major-league debut next, Verlander will face the next chapter of his rehab: Toledo’s opponent during a stretch the Tigers described as a temporary detour from the “highly anticipated” hometown return. Toledo is set to host the St. Paul Saints for a six-game series beginning Tuesday night at Fifth Third Field, and Verlander’s rehab start is built into that developmental window.

The Tigers also tied the next few days to their broader plan to stay in striking distance of their division race. Detroit will travel after this run, beginning with a three-game weekend series in Cleveland that the team framed as meaningful for their ability to climb back into contention. For that stretch, the Tigers indicated they expect additional reinforcements from the farm system, including Tarik Skubal on track to return from a rehab start on Sunday at High-A West Michigan and Casey Mize scheduled to make a rehab start on Tuesday at Single-A Lakeland at Clearwater.

Verlander, for his part, acknowledged that the organization wanted more volume, not just quality. “Obviously, I would like to pitch [in the big leagues next], but I also was too efficient, I guess,” he said of his last outing, noting that the goal now is “some more volume.” He added that the mechanical work he has been doing showed up during the game, saying the start felt “pretty normal” and helped reinforce the progress he has made while searching for steady repetition.

Instead of looking past the immediate next start, the Tigers’ manager of baseball ops also pointed to familiar destinations that could follow once Verlander is ready for Major League competition. The team noted that by mid-month, if the rehab goes as planned, Verlander could be back on a schedule that includes a visit to Daikin Park for a series against the Astros. They also mentioned the possibility that Houston could have Hunter Brown available by that point, given Brown’s current rehab-related status.

For Tigers fans, the next watch item is straightforward: whether Verlander can increase his pitch count and maintain sharpness as the outing extends toward that 75-pitch goal. If he does, it would support the organization’s stated intent to get him back into the rotation the following week. If he does not, Detroit likely returns to the same careful math that has defined this comeback, leaning on the idea that timing and workload are not optional when the body is still finding its normal range of motion.