DETROIT -- Today is Justin Verlander’s homecoming, but after nearly six years it no longer feels much like home.
The longtime Detroit Tigers ace, traded to the Houston Astros in 2017, will make his debut as a member of the New York Mets on Thursday afternoon at Comerica Park.
“It’s funny how baseball works,” Verlander said earlier this week. “Obviously, I didn’t want to start the year on the (injured list). But here I am, my first game as a Met in Detroit.”
Verlander, who turned 40 in February, said he has many “cherished memories” in Detroit and he recounted some of them while talking to the press in the visiting locker room. But he also acknowledged without malice or bitterness that this is a closed chapter in his life and career.
“I definitely look at my career and life like chapters,” he said. “I don’t look (view) anything negatively, just appreciate it for what it was and close that chapter and move on to the new one. I’m right in the thick of a brand new chapter with the Mets. I’m very pleased with my time in Houston as well. But (Detroit) was the first chapter of my baseball career. It was a long one. But, you know, it ended peacefully and I think both sides wish each other nothing but the best. What a great way to do it.”
Verlander was drafted by Detroit with the No. 2 overall pick in 2004 and pitched for the Tigers from 2005-2017.
He was sent to the Astros at the deadline in 2017 and has since enjoyed a career renaissance. He’s won two Cy Youngs and two World Series while going 61-19 with a 2.26 ERA in 102 starts, solidifying his first-ballot Hall-of-Fame status.
Verlander had to give his consent for the trade in 2017, and the negotiations went down to the last second.
“It was very difficult,” Verlander said. “I think people very easily tend to forget that it’s not just a baseball decision. I had 12, 13 years of my life in this city. This was my home. As a baseball decision, I thought it was fairly easy. I mean, the writing was on the wall. I was going from a team that was going in one direction to a team that was going in another and had World Series aspirations. So that wasn’t the hard part. The hard part was uprooting my family.”
The Tigers have won 295 games and lost 469 since the day Verlander was traded. The rebuilding plan initiated by now-fired general manager Al Avila hasn’t brought them any closer to contention.
Verlander said the Tigers’ decline wasn’t surprising.
“I mean, everybody kind of saw it coming as pieces started to be traded away,” he said. “I’m always hoping for the best for the organization. It seems like they’re bringing in some pieces to turn things around.”
Verlander was happier when remembering the “glory days” in Detroit with an elite pitching staff and a budget-busting owner who was willing to spend big to win, not unlike his current situation with the Mets.
“Yeah, it was one hell of a ride,” he said. “It was like a Cinderella story in 2006 and really year in and year out the team was a juggernaut, going deep in the playoffs every year. Mister I. (the late Michael Ilitch) was doing anything he could to put an unbelievable product on the field. What a time to be not only a player for the organization but a fan. It felt like (the glory days) as a player, and it was just so fun to be part of it.”
Verlander has talked in the past about how the birth of his daughter, Genevieve, now four-and-a-half years old, had a profound effect on him. He said he’s the same pitcher he was in Detroit, but fatherhood has made him mature.
“I’ve grown a lot,” he said. “I’ve matured as a human being. It’s been quite a journey. It’s been a lot of fun, and I’ve enjoyed the ride.”