Justin Verlander

Justin Verlander left the game Friday afternoon due to cramping in his right triceps muscle.

(AP File Photo)

DUNEDIN, Fla. -- Justin Verlander felt like he had his best stuff in a long, long time. Pitching coach Jeff Jones agreed. So did Detroit Tigers manager Brad Ausmus.

But how soon will Verlander get to see if he can build upon the positive but abbreviated outing he had Friday afternoon?

The Tigers announced less than 25 minutes after Verlander left his team's 4-1 rain-shortened loss to the Toronto Blue Jays that they do not anticipate that he will miss his next start. But in the end, time will tell.

It always does.

How good was Verlander through two innings?

"The best I've seen him," Ausmus said.

There was a pause as media members waited to see if he was going to qualify that statement in any way.

"Period?" Ausmus was asked.

"You can put an exclamation point if you want," he said.

With that comment, Ausmus actually made two strong statements. The first point: The thought was complete. Ausmus was saying that is the best he has seen Verlander since he took over as manager more than a year ago. In addition to that, he was giving added credence to the thought.

Let's see how it looks with the punctuation tweaked:

"The best I've seen him!" Ausmus said.

Verlander was pretty enthusiastic, too. He said a curveball he threw early in the game to Russell Martin was the best curveball he's thrown in two years.

"That's where I want to be," Verlander said. "The first two innings are a great sign. I felt like myself. ... It's funny to say."

The cramping started in the third inning.

"The first couple were nice and easy," Verlander said, "and then I threw a curveball and it just kind of felt like when I got extended that my tricep kind of grabbed on me a little bit. Then from that point on, the rest of the pitches I threw there was a similar feeling.

"When I got fully extended out, it just kind of felt crampy. It was weird. I've never really felt anything like that before. But it doesn't seem like anything serious."

Verlander, of course, didn't want to come out of the game initially. He said that he probably wouldn't have signaled to the dugout that he wanted a mound visit if it had been a regular-season game. Even after a lengthy and well attended conference at the mound, Verlander lobbied Ausmus to allow him to face one more batter.

But it was a Grapefruit League game. Ausmus took the safe route and pulled him.

"He said it felt more like a cramp than a strain," Ausmus said. "It doesn't mean we're out of the woods. It's not as concerning of an area."

Verlander said he's not overly concerned.

"I don't think I'm injured," he said. "The only concern I would have is if it lingered, because I've worked really hard on getting my mechanics and my arm action back to the way I used to throw and I think I'm getting a little more extension out front because of that."

Verlander said that return to the way he did things prior to last season, when he was coming off core muscle surgery, might have something to do with the cramping.

"I think I was a little dehydrated today, for one," he said. "I think the adjustments I've been making mechanically, getting further out front, maybe put a little more strain on that than I have in the past. I really obviously like the mechanical adjustments I have made, but I'm using muscles differently maybe and that also may have contributed to it."

Ausmus said he thought there was a chance Verlander could show up Saturday without any soreness in the area at all. It really could turn out to be nothing.

"Hopefully," Ausmus said, "it's just a blip on the radar."

The Tigers certainly hope it is. They have enough talent to compete for a fifth consecutive division this season, but the gap between the haves and the have nots in the American League Central Division has shrunk. The margin for error is smaller. The Tigers need a bounce-back season from Verlander to help bolster a rotation that might not have the same depth that it has in recent years.

This could very well turn out to be a minor issue. But as Ausmus said, Verlander and the Tigers are not out of the woods yet.

Verlander will be reevaluated Saturday.

Depending on the prognosis, the Tigers season might be, too.

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