Verlander on Opening Day off: 'It just didn’t make a lot of sense to put myself through that stress'

Despite showing an apparent return to form during spring training in Florida, Justin Verlander won't be the Houston Astros' starting pitcher when the team opens their 2022 campaign on April 7 against the Los Angeles Angels, according to a report from Houston CBS affiliate KHOU.

The 39-year-old Verlander returned to the mound after being sidelined for two years by injury. According to KHOU, the veteran right-hander registered a stellar zero ERA through three spring training starts.

“Could I have tried to build up for opening day? Yes," Verlander said, the station reported. "But after talking to the doctors, the coaches, everybody involved, it just didn’t make a lot of sense to put myself through that stress for just one start.”

Astros manager Dusty Baker said the decision to refrain from starting Verlander gives the two-time Cy Young winner a chance to enjoy three off-days the defending American League champions have during the first two weeks of the season, KHOU reported.

“We’ve got to be a little bit apprehensive in general in the beginning,” Baker said in the report.

Verlander, who inked a one-year contract to stay in Houston late last year, came to the Astros via trade from the Detroit Tigers during the team's controversial World Series title run in 2017.

KHOU reported that he earned the Opening Day starting job each season – including the 2020 campaign that was shortened because of the COVID-19 pandemic – since his arrival through 2021. He pitched for two Astros Fall Classic teams.

Baker told MLB.com that he hasn't decided on a starter to go up against the Angels next week.

According to the website, southpaw Framber Valdez, the hero of the Astros' 9-1 win over the Boston Red Sox in Game 5 of the most recent AL Championship Series, is a possible nod.