DETROIT -- If everything goes well, Justin Verlander could be ready to pitch Tuesday when the Pittsburgh Pirates come to town.
Verlander said he has to throw a bullpen, scheduled for Saturday, and see how that goes first.
"Just see how that feels getting off the slope," Verlander said. "I was able to throw most of the days off flat ground, it didn't really bother me much. Off the mound is a little bit different though because middle of the back, you really use it to get over your front side and obviously you're doing a little bit more of that off the slope of the mound than you are on flat ground."
Tigers manager Brad Ausmus said the Tigers hope Verlander can go Tuesday.
"We probably won't know for sure until Sunday," Ausmus said. "Pencil it in. We have some flexibility with the off day (Monday)."
Verlander said he didn't really get concerned about having some mid-back stiffness until it lingered two days after his last start, in which he threw 117 pitches in 6 2/3 innings in New York on June 19.
The Tigers called up Buck Farmer from Triple-A Toledo to make Verlander's start this past Wednesday in Cleveland.
"I was still hopeful I could make my start," Verlander said. "In talking to trainers and coaches, they still think I could have if it was completely necessary. Just all the circumstances leading up to it, it only being my second start, trying to get back in the swing of things and just getting my body back into pitching shape, I didn't think it was the right move to really push it."
Verlander missed the first two-plus months of the season because of a strained right triceps muscle.
He made his first start of the season June 13 at home against Cleveland.
Since the days after Verlander's last start, he said things have improved.
"There's some little indicators that I know things are getting better," Verlander said. "For instance, the first day, I would lean over to brush my teeth, my back is like, oh my God, it's killing me. Now it's fine. Obviously throwing it would grab me occasionally. It didn't do that today, which was nice. It was just a little fatigued."
Verlander said he didn't expect things to be perfect when he returned after missing so much time.
"No matter what kind of training you do, you can't train for pitching," Verlander said. "That's why I keep reiterating I need to be in pitching shape, my body needs to be in pitching shape. I feel strong, everything feels great, but it's just not used to going out there and the strain that you put on it, 100 pitches in a major league baseball game."
