DETROIT — Tigers right-hander Justin Verlander, a surefire Hall of Famer, seemed to wonder Friday whether he’ll pitch again after the team scratched him from his start Sunday against the White Sox because of a strained left hamstring.
‘‘I’ve always said I want to play till the wheels fall off,’’ he said in front of his locker. ‘‘I don’t know, maybe they are falling off.’’
He chuckled while adding, ‘‘I hope not,’’ but there was an air of despair in the 43-year-old’s voice as he talked about having to recover from another injury, just as he was set to return from inflammation in his left hip that has limited him to one start this season. Verlander said the hamstring issue cropped up during a bullpen session Wednesday.
‘‘My hip actually feels fairly good,’’ he said. ‘‘All the sudden, my hamstring was bugging me. Had to cut my bullpen short. We decided to get it looked at, and there’s a strain. It’s just really unfortunate, man. It sucks.
‘‘One thing I’ve been in my career is pretty objective when analyzing myself. I critique myself harder than anybody. I think I handle this no differently. If I continue to prove that I can’t be healthy, that’s something that I have to really evaluate that I really haven’t yet. This is uncharted territory for me, and it sucks. But I think first and foremost right now, it’s head down, work hard, get past this, try to get back out there for the Detroit Tigers and myself. See what I can do.’’
In his 21st major-league season, Verlander has done almost everything a pitcher can do in baseball. He has two World Series titles (both with the Astros), three Cy Young Awards and one MVP, has pitched three no-hitters and has 3,554 strikeouts. But he said he has every intention of pitching again this season.
‘‘I’m in the middle of a season; there’s no giving up,’’ he said. ‘‘This is halfway through a season I’ve committed to the Tigers for, and nobody envisioned it going this way. But I also intend on trying to give it my everything till the season’s over. Once that happens, I don’t know. A lot of thoughts that I’m going to have to take into consideration.
‘‘My family’s up here with me now. My son’s turning 1 today. My daughter’s 7. I went to a play of hers. There’s a lot of things that are also going on in my life that are a draw away from the game.’’