Tigers' Justin Verlander reunion flop opens door further for Guardians in AL Central

There’s no active pitcher who has dominated the Cleveland Guardians quite like Justin Verlander. It started way back in the mid-2000s (!!) when he was first called up with the Detroit Tigers and has carried over to the three separate franchises he’s played for since leaving Detroit in 2017. 

And while there’s a chance that he could continue that domination in 2026 thanks to his return to the Tigers on a one-year contract, the early returns from that reunion weren’t great. Verlander made his season debut on Monday and allowed five runs in 3 2/3 innings against the Diamondbacks. 

While that isn’t as interesting as Tarik Skubal or Framber Valdez struggling, it’s not nothing, especially since Verlander is 43 and entering his 21st MLB season. 

Guardians killer Justin Verlander struggled in his first start of the season for the Tigers 

Verlander struggled right out of the gate against the Diamondbacks thanks to a Ketel Marte single followed by a Corbin Carroll triple. Arizona added another run in the first inning on a Gabriel Moreno ground out before Carroll tagged Verlander for a three-run home run an inning later. 

Per MLB.com’s Jason Beck, Carroll became the first player to hit a homer and triple off Verlander in the same game since Denard Span. 

Not the way I obviously wanted it to go, which is disappointing for myself more than anybody else in the world,” Verlander said after the start, per Beck. “Just like I've done my whole career, I come in here and start trying to think about what was off and how I can fix it and why it was off and get ready for the next one.”

Even though the Tigers aren’t expecting Verlander to be the ace at the front of their rotation (or make a season’s worth of starts),  he’s still an important part of their rotation. 

The past couple seasons have been a bit of a slog for Verlander. After winning the American League Cy Young with the Astros in 2022, Verlander had a solid 2023 campaign split across time with the Mets and Astros before having an injury-plagued 2024 season. 

He spent last season with the Giants and recorded a 3.85 ERA in 29 starts. One of those starts came against the Guardians when he went 4 2/3 innings in a loss in June. 

Verlanded’s thrown 363 1/3 career innings against the Guardians and has gone at least seven innings in 23 of his 58 starts against the club (two complete games). 

But a majority of those starts came when Verlander was at the top of his game, which is no longer the case. That should make the Guardians happy.