Verlander Back To Full Health, Feels 'Like A Kid In A Candy Store'
By Ashley Scoby
@AshleyScoby
Baseball is often called a child's game, and Justin Verlander feels young once again.
With just over a month until the Tigers' spring training schedule starts, Verlander is in the best health he's been in in several years. And without a nagging pain in his throwing arm, he can finally enjoy baseball again.
Verlander spent a significant portion of spring training last year doing physical therapy, having dealt with previous injuries to his core and shoulder. He hurt himself again at the end of spring, and was out for two months because of a triceps issue. By the time he finally got back onto the field and into a solid rhythm, the season was virtually coming to an end.
This season, the Tigers' ace finally gets to start with a clean slate.
"This year was a normal offseason, so at this point, I'm like a kid in a candy store, throwing," he said. "I started throwing and I expected it to hurt like it was the last few years, and all of a sudden it feels good. I go out and long toss and I'm like, 'Okay, tomorrow I'll see how it does and maybe I'll just play catch.' The next day I started throwing and next thing you know I'm long-tossing again because it just feels that good. I do it again the next day. It's like, 'Okay, this is what it used to feel like. This is fun.'"
Verlander will turn 33 before this season starts, and critics have complained he's on the decline. If some of his health-related inconsistencies from last year were put into a vacuum, maybe so. But the end of 2015 saw some vintage Verlander performances, including his one-hitter against the Angels in August.
It will help that Verlander has more support from his staff (and bullpen) this season. General manager and vice president of baseball operations Al Avila made pitching his single-minded (at least until outfielder Justin Upton was signed) focus. Jordan Zimmermann and Mike Pelfrey will join the likely starting rotation, and bullpen help comes in the form of closer Francisco Rodriguez and set-up men Mark Lowe and Justin Wilson.
Anibal Sanchez, who was shut down before the end of the 2015 season because of a nagging shoulder injury, will head into spring training healthy, too. And the Tigers got solid performances out of Daniel Norris last year, who is 100 percent following offseason surgery to remove a cancerous tumor from his thyroid.
The competition and depth among pitchers this year is one of the most exciting possibilities of the season for Verlander.
"You look at the fifth spot, and instead of last year, which was kind of throwing guys in that maybe weren't quite ready yet, got a baptism by fire, this year it's kind of a more traditional, 'Okay, let's go into spring training and work it out and see who's ready, see who fits, and win that spot,'" he said. "It's a healthy competition and we've got a niche of three or four guys that would probably be on a lot of staffs but in this occasion, they're gonna have to fight for that fifth spot, which is good in my opinion."
With the Tigers' core aging along with Verlander (Miguel Cabrera is 32, Ian Kinsler is 33, Victor Martinez is 37), the worry among fans is that those players will walk away from the game before they can win a World Series in Detroit.
But add together the pieces that Avila signed in the offseason, plus his own health, and Verlander thinks they can get back to the promised land.
"That conversation has come and gone a handful of times – that the window is closing – and it seems that he (owner Mike Ilitch) has done an amazing job of bringing in new guys and allowing that window to stay open, and allowing us an opportunity to win a championship," Verlander said.
