Tigers' Verlander cleared to resume throwing

CHICAGO -- Pitching coach Jeff Jones said Justin Verlander was waiting for him when he walked into the visiting locker room at U.S. Cellular Field.

According to the Tigers, Verlander was examined by Dr. Tony Romeo on Wednesday to review results of his third MRI and was cleared to resume a throwing program. Verlander hasn't pitched in a game yet this season because of a right triceps strain.

"As soon as I walked in he came to my locker with his spikes on ready to throw," Jones said. "I'm happy for him. It's been a long wait."

Verlander did not speak to reporters before Wednesday's game against the White Sox. He said Tuesday he'd be itching to throw when given the OK. He sent out a photo of a green light earlier Wednesday on Instagram, a sign that he had been cleared before the Tigers made the official announcement.

"We just stayed at 60 feet today," Jones said. "With no problems."

"Just 50 throws. It's been a while since he's thrown, even though he did a little catch in Minnesota."

Tigers manager Brad Ausmus said Verlander felt fine with the work he did today but offered no estimate of how soon Verlander would be ready to pitch in a game.

"He's not going to be off the mound for a while though," Ausmus said. "There's no real set timetable."

Ausmus said Jones and athletic trainer Kevin Rand will make sure Verlander isn't going too fast as he works his way back.

Could he see Verlander pitching in a game this month?

"We don't really have a timetable," Ausmus said. "He's gotta start building up his arm strength again, basically from ground zero so we'll just have to see how it goes."

Jones said they would slowly increase Verlander's work, adding 10 more pitches to the amount he throws.

"It's really going to depend on how he feels, as long as he has no setbacks and no soreness," Jones said. "It could be ten days before we get him on the mound. He'll probably do the same thing today that we did tomorrow, maybe increase it about 10 and then day after that we'll start stretching out a little bit."

Lineup notes: Ausmus flip-flopped Yoenis Cespedes and J.D. Martinez in the lineup Wednesday. Martinez, who has been struggling lately, batted sixth instead of fifth, with Cespedes moving up one spot in the order to bat behind cleanup hitter Victor Martinez.

Contact George Sipple: gsipple@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @georgesipple.

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