Verlander placed on 15-day injured list due to hip issue, misses scheduled start in Detroit homecoming.

The Detroit Tigers could have scripted a more perfect scenario for Justin Verlander's return to Comerica Park: a nationally televised Sunday night game with Detroit's downtown skyline glowing in the background. But for a 43-year-old pitcher, health rarely follows a planned schedule.

Verlander's return to the Comerica Park mound wearing a Tigers uniform will have to wait. The Tigers placed the former AL MVP and Cy Young Award winner on the 15-day injured list today due to left hip inflammation.

This decision is retroactive to Thursday, meaning he could return as early as April 16. However, the Tigers want to ensure Verlander feels good and his pitching mechanics are smooth first.

Verlander, who signed a one-year deal with the Tigers as a free agent in February, began experiencing this hip issue during his return debut on Tuesday in Arizona against the Diamondbacks, where he pitched 3.2 innings, allowing 6 hits and 5 runs.

"In my last start, it started to tighten up a bit," Verlander said. "Around the left hamstring area, I kept pitching through it. It was pretty sore for a day or two afterward, but it's been improving. So it's been a 'wait-and-see' game to see if it gets good enough. Honestly, if we wanted to push through, I think it might have been good enough, but Manager A.J. Hinch and the management, and I agree, felt it's not the time to risk it mid-season. And we don't have a rest day to adjust, which is also troublesome."

Verlander threw today to assess if he could prepare for tomorrow's Sunday night game against the Cardinals, after which the Tigers announced this decision.

"He came in today and threw. I could see he was a bit hesitant; he's tough and wanted to push through," Hinch said.

Verlander said, "Today was my best day so far. It's genuinely improving daily, but after my session, I couldn't guarantee 100% that I'd be ready tomorrow."

Verlander received enthusiastic cheers during Saturday's pre-game introductions and while crouching behind home plate to catch the ceremonial first pitch from former teammate Brandon Inge. This shows how significant his return is to Detroit fans, and how grand his Sunday night start could have been. Despite forecasts of cold weather, the Tigers sold many tickets early in anticipation of Verlander's start.

"It frustrates me, obviously," Verlander said. "I also know many fans were excited for the Sunday night game. I know many people spent their hard-earned money to come. I actually talked to the organization about it, and they'll do something about it, so that's good. Not ideal, but not terrible either. I think we can handle it."

The Tigers had been selling a special "Verlander Homecoming" ticket package for tomorrow's game, including a specially designed T-shirt; more information is expected to follow.

Right-handed pitcher Keider Montero has been recalled from Triple-A Toledo and is expected to start in place of Verlander for the Sunday night game. Montero was originally scheduled to start for the Mud Hens in Syracuse on Sunday, so he will still pitch on his normal rotation day. In his season debut on March 29 at Lehigh Valley, he pitched four scoreless innings for the Mud Hens with three strikeouts.

"We didn't anticipate needing rotation support this week," Hinch said. "But the situation arose, and we have a guy who was potentially on the roster from the start; now he gets the chance to come up and help us."