Astros' Verlander 'on cloud nine' after 1st bullpen session

Associated Press

West Palm Beach, Fla. — Watching Houston’s run through the 2021 playoffs, Former Detroit Tiger and current Astros pitcher Justin Verlander considered lending a hand – an arm, actually – to the cause.

The two-time AL Cy Young Award winner had pitched in only one game since 2019, but his bullpen sessions while rehabbing from Tommy John surgery were going so well that he felt could get major league hitters out.

“My doctor put it very bluntly,” Verlander said. “If you want to go out in a blaze of glory and maybe blow yourself out, by all means go pitch in the World Series. But if you want to pitch a few more years like you’ve told me you want to, then you’d be an idiot to do that.”

…