NEW YORK (AP) — Two-time Cy Young Award winner Justin Verlander is slated to make a rehab start Friday for Binghamton, the Mets’ Double-A affiliate.
Verlander, who signed a two-year, $86.6 million deal with the Mets in December, has yet to debut due to a major teres strain he suffered late in spring training. He is expected to throw four innings for Binghamton, located about four hours north of Citi Field.
The game was originally scheduled to start just after 5 p.m., but with steady rain in the forecast throughout the evening in upstate New York, Binghamton moved the first pitch up four hours.
“Trying to get ahead of the weather,” Mets manager Buck Showalter said Thursday. “Just kind of fit, weather-wise, and making sure he got it in. And proximity — it’s not that far.”
The Mets expect Verlander to need just the one rehab start before moving into their rotation. He could debut next week in Detroit against the Tigers, for whom he went 183-114 while winning the AL Rookie of the Year in 2006 and the Cy Young Award and MVP in 2011.
The Mets have used seven starters already while dealing with the absences of Verlander and fellow veterans Max Scherzer and Carlos Carrasco, who have combined for just 33 innings thus far. Scherzer is serving a 10-game suspension for using a foreign substance in a start against the Los Angeles Dodgers last week while Carrasco is on the injured list with right elbow inflammation.
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