Justin Verlander to start for Tigers on Opening Day

Justin Verlander to start for Tigers on Opening Day

By JOHN LOWE • FREE PRESS SPORTS WRITER • March 27, 2009

Editor's note: Story updated at 2:47 p.m.

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — Justin Verlander will start the Tigers’ regular-season opener in Toronto a week from Monday, manager Jim Leyland said today.

In this afternoon's game, Verlander turned in his third scintillating performance in a row. He blanked Atlanta over seven innings on two hits. Both hits were singles -- one a bunt.

Here are Verlander's totals for his last three starts: 18 innings, 5 hits (all singles -- two of them bunts), 1 run.

Edwin Jackson will start the season’s second game.

Leyland didn’t say when Armando Galarraga will make his first start. It could come in the home opener two weeks from today against Texas. That will be the season’s fifth game.

Leyland said he might save Galarraga for the prestige of the home opener because “he did a hell of a job last year.”

The manager doesn’t know who the other two starters will be in his season-opening five-man rotation. Leyland referred today to the “confusion” surrounding the rotation, one day after alluding to the same uncertainty as “chaos.”

At least five pitchers could take one of those two remaining starting spots: Jeremy Bonderman, who is working to regain the speed on his fastball; Nate Robertson, who must overcome the sprained thumb he suffered Wednesday; Dontrelle Willis, who’s working to regain his control; Rick Porcello, the rookie phenom; and Zach Miner, the starter-reliever who is a reliever, at least for the moment.

Verlander is starting today against Atlanta and, with the game being played under N.L. rules, is in the batting order.

Leyland said he told Verlander about his Opening Day start amid issuing an admonition on Thursday. He told Verlander about his time in the batter’s box today, “I don’t want to see my Opening Day pitcher hurt his rib-cage swinging the bat.”

03/27/09 7:50 PM ET
Verlander gets Opening Day nod
Two rotation questions remain for manager Leyland's Tigers

By Jason Beck / MLB.com

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. -- Jim Leyland not only broke his Opening Day assignment to Justin Verlander, he might've broken his heart a bit at the same time.

When the Tigers manager noticed his young ace handling a bat around the clubhouse Thursday, looking ahead to his scheduled start Friday against the Braves in a game without the designated hitter, Leyland figuratively took it out of his hands.

"How am I going to look," Leyland asked aloud Friday, "if my Opening Day pitcher pulls a rib cage in a Spring Training game at Mickey Mouse Park?"

Leyland meant that in as endearing terms as he could. But if Verlander couldn't hit, he wasn't going to let the Braves hit, either.

With what little mystery remained of Verlander's Opening Day assignment resolved Friday, Verlander took the mound at Disney's Wide World of Sports complex and erased any doubt about his readiness for what he hopes is a rebound season.

After he fell behind on back-to-back pitches to Atlanta's leadoff man, Gregor Blanco, Verlander gathered himself and took a deep breath. He proceeded to fire three fastballs by Blanco, the last a whiff on a 95 mph four-seamer, then hit 96 mph on a pitch that Kelly Johnson could only foul off. The first pitch Chipper Jones saw registered at 97 mph on the Champion Stadium radar gun before he grounded out to second.

That set the tone for Verlander's afternoon.

"What did he win, 10, last year?" Braves manager Bobby Cox asked afterward. "That seems impossible."

Verlander actually won 11 last year, interspersed between his American League-leading 17 losses, but it wasn't with the same stuff that he has shown his past few starts. As much as Verlander's status on the team determined his slot for April 6 at Toronto, the assignment also acts as a reward for the progress he has made over the past few weeks. Some of it came from new pitching coach Rick Knapp. Another key development came partly on his own.

"I think he's got himself to where he's understanding what it takes for him to maximize his ability," Leyland said after Verlander's seven scoreless innings Friday, "and I think he's really starting to get it."

One of those changes is the placement of the front foot in Verlander's delivery, allowing him to throw on more of a downward plane towards the plate. What was expected to take a few starts to put into place went quicker than expected, allowing Verlander to have more consistent command of his pitches.

Yet in the same January meeting where Knapp, having watched video on Verlander from the past couple years, suggested that adjustment, he also suggested that Verlander's arm angle was higher last year than it had been when he was successful.

"Didn't really work on it too hard at that point in time," Verlander said. "But after looking at the video of myself a few starts ago, I threw the ball well, but it's a game of adjustments, and I'm always trying to get better. I saw it for myself. That told me, 'Hey, let's work on this while we still can.'"

It was a late stage of the spring to be making adjustments, but as both Verlander and Leyland pointed out, it's much easier to make any changes during Spring Training than it is once the season starts.

Verlander's last few starts have featured an adjustment on the arm angle. The results have been 18 innings of one-run ball, with just five hits and six walks with nine strikeouts. He has back-to-back scoreless performances, covering 12 innings. His two hits allowed Friday were a third-inning bunt single and a broken-bat bouncer through the middle in the sixth.

"I can make adjustments pretty quickly," Verlander said.

It isn't just the quickness of the adjustments, but the eagerness of Verlander to make them, that has Leyland impressed.

"I think Rick Knapp and him have a real good rapport going," Leyland said. "He's really making an effort to do the things that Rick's showing him, that [Verlander] thinks are necessary for him to be as successful as he can be. And that's all we want. This is a very talented guy, and our job is to get the most out of your players."

Leyland planned on Verlander to make the Opening Day assignment long before the adjustments. Verlander's first start of Spring Training put him on a track to be on turn for that night at Toronto. Still, Leyland said, he didn't want to announce it until he was sure. It'll be the second consecutive Opening Day assignment for Verlander, who faced the Royals at Comerica Park to open last season.

Verlander was a brief consideration to start the home opener on April 10, but that idea died quickly.

"I can't go to Toronto with a talented pitcher like that and not pitch him for four days," Leyland said.

That home-opener assignment is still up in the air. Leyland said he might like to start Armando Galarraga in that game, partly as a reward for the season he had last year, but it depends on how the rest of the rotation works out.

"He's probably a candidate for either the third game in Toronto or Opening Day at home," Leyland said. "But just a candidate."

With Jeremy Bonderman trying to work his way back to open the season on time, Nate Robertson dealing with a sprained left thumb and 20-year-old Rick Porcello still progressing from the time he lost to a cut on his right middle finger, the Tigers have two question marks remaining for their rotation.

The one assignment certain beyond Verlander belongs to Edwin Jackson, who will start the second game of the season April 7.

Jason Beck is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

GO JUSTIN!

Great for him! I hope he can show us the stuff he had against the Braves!

Hopefully he pitches like he did his first two years and not last year

I predict Verlander will go

17-10 with a 3:52 ERA in 2009

I'll try and outdo gs and predict 17-9 with a 3.45 ERA.

I had already predicted 16-10, 3.94 ERA.