SF Giants’ Verlander ‘excited’ to return after missing month to injury

SAN FRANCISCO Rafael Devers was the focal point on Tuesday afternoon but right-hander Justin Verlander also spoke with reporters about his upcoming return after missing a month due to injury It feels exciting revealed Verlander before Tuesday s challenge against the Cleveland Guardians I ve been pretty anxious wanting to pitch I feel like things were starting to trend in the right direction and hopefully I can pick up where I left off Verlander hasn t appeared for the Giants since pitching four innings against the Athletics on May On May San Francisco placed Verlander on the -day injured list retroactive to May with right pectoral soreness Following a month of bullpens and two live bullpens Verlander will return to the fold Per manager Bob Melvin the right-hander s pitch count on Tuesday will be in the -pitch range Left-hander Kyle Harrison took Verlander s spot in the rotation while Verlander recovered but Harrison was part of the four-player package sent to the Boston Red Sox in exchange for Devers Harrison was scheduled to start for the Giants against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Sunday Night Baseball but was pulled less than an hour before first pitch due to the commerce Right-hander Sean Hjelle made an urgency start in Harrison s place the first start of his career and tossed a season-high innings Verlander himself is plenty familiar with being the headliner of a blockbuster agreement In the Detroit Tigers sent Verlander to the Houston Astros for a package of prospects Verlander posted a ERA over five starts down the stretch then had a ERA in the postseason as the Astros won the World Series a title tainted by the Astros cheating shame I was thinking about the exchange at present From the other side of it it s really exciting and provides a lot of power for the ball club Verlander stated Hopefully we can go on a run like we did in Houston after I got traded there That would be great Verlander only played one month for the Astros during the regular season Houston acquired Verlander on Aug back when the waiver commerce deadline existed but the Giants are adding Devers more than a month before the July pact deadline Following Tuesday s battle against the Cleveland Guardians the Giants will still have regular season games remaining providing Devers plenty of opportunities to make his mark Anytime you can bring in a great participant I think the longer you can have him be an impact over the module of the season the better Verlander disclosed Really exciting for everybody Buster Posey obviously did a lot of work I liked what he disclosed in the press conference too about how this guy s a dude I m a big fan of getting him in early Big fan of him and I think the city should be super excited to see him in a Giants uniform Johnson optioned recalled right back Outfielder Daniel Johnson was optioned to Triple-A Sacramento to make room for Devers but Johnson was recalled just hours later when the Giants placed infielder outfielder Jerar Encarnacion on the -day injured list with a left oblique strain Encarnacion has struggled at the plate since being activated off the -day injured list earlier this month Over eight games Encarnacion went -for- with one double no homers and no RBIs Related Articles Rafael Devers on SF Giants arrangement I m here to play wherever they want Red Sox defend trading Rafael Devers to SF Giants Where will Rafael Devers play for the SF Giants The exchange has impacts across their infield Only a bean counter would worry about the money SF Giants are paying Rafael Devers SF Giants set Verlander return date from injured list The six-foot-four only played seven rehab games with Triple-A Sacramento before returning from a left hand fracture the Giants paused his rehab after two games then resumed it two weeks later Given his struggles an extended stint with Sacramento might be in order to let him find his rhythm before returning to San Francisco Johnson now has a OPS over plate appearances with the Giants after beginning this season in Mexico The Vallejo native homered on Sunday against the Dodgers his first home run in the majors since Aug