Justin Verlander missing something in Tigers' 11-8 win vs Rockies

SCOTTSDALE, AZ – The Detroit Tigers beat the Colorado Rockies, 11-8, on Tuesday, March 24, at Salt River Fields at Talking Stick in the final game of spring training.

Opening Day is Thursday.

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What happened

Right-hander Justin Verlander completed his fourth and final start this spring.

The 43-year-old posted a 6.75 ERA with five walks and 19 strikeouts across 14⅔ innings. His fastball maxed out above 96 mph, while his slider and changeup generated an abundance of whiffs.

He surrendered 17 hits along the way this spring.

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Detroit Tigers pitcher Justin Verlander, talks to Major League Video Operations Coordinator Austin Tripp, after practice during spring training at TigerTown in Lakeland, Fla. on Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2026.

Of those hits, seven of them were home runs – and six came on fastballs, including two Tuesday when Brett Sullivan hit an elevated fastball in the fourth inning and Ezequiel Tovar hit a middle-middle sinker in the fifth inning.

“Seems like I need to locate my fastball,” Verlander said.

It’s something he has been working on throughout the spring.

Even in his final spring start.

“In the season, if something is not working, you scratch and claw and figure out how to get guys out during that day,” Verlander said. “In spring training, if something is not working, you work on it.”

Starting off

The Rockies crushed Verlander.

He allowed six runs (five earned runs) on eight hits and one walk over 4⅔ innings, throwing 70 pitches. He pinpointed his fastball as an area that needs improvement.

“I still need fastball control,” Verlander said. “It’s something I was trying to work on a little bit.”

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An error led to the lone run in the fourth inning: Before Sullivan’s home run, third baseman Jace Jung dropped a pop-up in foul territory, and on the next pitch, Sullivan hit Verlander’s fastball for a solo home run.

But Verlander was responsible for the two runs in the third inning.

With two outs, Verlander hit ex-Tiger Willi Castro with a fastball, allowed a single to Hunter Goodman and walked Tovar on five pitches – and Jordan Beck cashed in with a two-run double.

That put the Rockies ahead, 3-2.

Verlander generated 10 whiffs on 35 swings for a 28.6% whiff rate, doing so with three fastballs, five sliders and two changeups. His fastball averaged 92.7 mph, down 1.2 mph from his previous start.

“Not as bad as it looked,” Verlander said. “Overall, I would like to see the velocity a tick better to maintain what I was doing, but I got a lot of swing-and-miss. I thought there were some decent positives.”

At the plate

The Tigers exploded for 11 runs, with a pair of two-homer games from catcher Dillon Dingler and outfielder Wenceel Pérez.

Before Tuesday’s game, the Tigers optioned Pérez to Triple-A Toledo to create space for both shortstop Kevin McGonigle and center fielder Parker Meadows on the Opening Day roster.

Pérez responded by driving in five runs.

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