MIAMI — The Mets were set to start the season with their healthiest rotation in years, but then Justin Verlander felt something wrong in his right shoulder during a bullpen session the night before opening day at LoanDepot Park.
The Mets’ co-ace and marquee winter signing, will start the season on the injured list with a low-grade major strain in his right shoulder.
Verlander struggled with his mechanics in his final Grapefruit League start last week and his fastball velocity was down a few miles per hour. It wasn’t anything he worried about at the time, but having dealt with a lat strain in the past, he realized the soreness he felt in his bullpen was probably connected to the decrease in velocity. The Mets exercised caution in sending him to get imaging right away.
