Justin Verlander Set to Make Expected Final Start at Comerica Park on Sept. 26

The Detroit Tigers are lining up Justin Verlander for what they expect to be the final start of his major league career Saturday afternoon at Comerica Park, after the veteran right-hander completed a bullpen session Tuesday that the team described as his last one before the outing. MLB.com reported the Tigers are planning for Verlander to start against the Pittsburgh Pirates on Sept. 26, with first pitch scheduled for 1:10 p.m. ET.

If it happens as planned, it will mark a fitting Detroit bookend. Verlander returned to the franchise that drafted him on a one-year deal before the 2026 season, and Saturday would be his first outing at Comerica Park as a Tiger since August 2017, before Detroit traded him later that year. MLB.com described it as the Tigers’ planned 557th and final major league start for Verlander.

The Tigers are not treating the appearance as a ceremonial inning. Verlander told MLB.com, “I don’t just want to go out there and do one inning and come out and wave. … I would like to toe the rubber one more time in a competitive way and try to win the Detroit Tigers a ballgame.” Manager A.J. Hinch said Verlander has been consistent about that goal, telling MLB.com: “He’s made it perfectly clear to me that he doesn’t want the one-inning sendoff. … He’s going to give his best shot to have as close to a normal game as he can.”

That competitive framing matters because Verlander has barely pitched this season. He has been sidelined since the end of March by left-hip inflammation and, more recently, a left hamstring strain. His only major league appearance in 2026 came March 30 at Arizona, when he threw 3 2/3 innings, allowed five earned runs and needed 80 pitches, according to the ESPN box score. Tuesday’s bullpen session, then, was not just a sentimental checkpoint but part of the ramp-up for a start the Tigers believe can resemble a real outing.

Verlander sounded encouraged that he cleared that step. “Happy to take the final step and not have anything happen,” he told MLB.com. “Just don’t do anything stupid between now and Saturday, and we should be good.”

The broader context is straightforward. Verlander announced July 8 that 2026 would be his final season. Injuries largely erased the season itself, turning the focus to whether he could get back to the mound at all before retiring. Now the Tigers are preparing for a homecoming farewell that, if all goes smoothly, would let one of the franchise’s biggest stars finish where his career began. According to his MLB player profile, Verlander is a three-time Cy Young Award winner, the 2011 American League MVP and a two-time World Series champion.

For Detroit, that gives Saturday’s game unusual weight even before the first pitch. The significance is not only that Verlander is expected to make one last appearance, but that he and Hinch are presenting it as a legitimate start rather than a brief salute. If the final days of his buildup go as planned, Comerica Park will host the final start of Verlander’s career on Saturday afternoon.