NEW YORK — Justin Verlander felt like the new kid in school all spring. The 40-year-old ace had previously spent his entire career with only two other teams, the Detroit Tigers and the Houston Astros, and had never been in spring training with a new one until he came to Port St. Lucie as a free-agent signing in February.
The Mets’ home opener was going to be his moment to show his new team and the fans what he was all about. Instead, Verlander watched right-hander Tylor Megill start against the Miami Marlins on Friday afternoon at Citi Field, sidelined with a teres major strain in his right shoulder.
“[It feels] like crap,” Verlander said Friday morning, standing at his Citi Field locker for the first time. “Just not the way I envisioned starting my career with them. It’s disappointing, to be honest, but I’m always a glass-half-full type of person, I’m always trying to be as positive as possible. And even though this isn’t the way I would have liked to have started, it’s out of my control. Injuries happen, that’s the nature of things.”
