OAKLAND -- Tigers manager Brad Ausmus didn't even think to ask ace right-hander Justin Verlander how his arm felt the day after throwing a simulated game.
"I saw him and said hello," Ausmus said. "He wasn't complaining. He was upbeat."
That's good news for a pitching staff that has been taking several hits the past week. Kyle Lobstein went on the disabled list with a sore left shoulder on Sunday and Alfredo Simon was placed on the bereavement list on Tuesday night so he could be with his ailing father.
Verlander was in good spirits before Wednesday's game, running around the clubhouse like a man getting ready to go on a rehab assignment.