Tigers fans' muted reactions to Justin Verlander rehab assignment says everything

On Sunday, Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press reported that Justin Verlander will make his first rehab start with Triple-A Toledo on Tuesday. He'll be joining the Mud Hens on a road trip to Iowa, which is a little unorthodox, as teams usually prefer to keep their rehabbing players close to home and willing to send them to other minor league levels to do so.

But Verlander is clearly eager to get back to the team after a two-month absence. The more time he gets at Triple-A, the better.

But ... do Tigers fans even care anymore? The online response suggests otherwise.

The Tigers are basically past the point of no return. They could plausibly still crawl their way back to a postseason spot if they were near-perfect through the rest of the season and/or the rest of the AL Central were to tank, but even if that were to happen, is anyone even remotely confident that they'll finally be able get over the ALDS hump?

Tigers fans are confident that Verlander coming back will be too little, too late. He's not the pitcher he was the last time he wore a Tigers uniform, and the 2026 Tigers may be a hopeless case.

Justin Verlander's slow return to Tigers' is too little, too late for doomed 2026 season

The Tigers' motivation for re-signing Verlander was multifold. No doubt they genuinely believed he would be able to help the rotation after a great second half with the Giants in 2025, but it was also about sales. Detroit is without Bally/FanDuel for the first time this season and have launched their own sink-or-swim subscription model. Average attendance was growing exponentially since 2021, as the Tigers got better and better, but sell-out crowds on Verlander start days were almost guaranteed.

But is the power of nostalgia good enough anymore? When the Tigers are sporting the worst record in the American League, tied with the worst record in baseball, will fans come out just to see the offense let Verlander down? Or worse, to watch Verlander get blown up in his first appearance back at Comerica Park?

The Tigers will almost certainly keep Verlander in the minors as long as they are able, given how long he's been off the mound and how many snags he's encountered while trying to return. The Tigers have time to at least look marginally better in the next few weeks, but will they? Fans are totally unconvinced.

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