(SportsRadio 610) -- Justin Verlander knows he won't be able to start a game for the Astros this season.
It bothers him that he will have only started one game from the two-year, $66 million extension he signed in March 2019, and it's possible it will be the only one he pitches at all.
But Verlander is hopeful of a return this season, albeit in a limited role.
His time away has been interesting, sometimes difficult and sometimes gratifying. When Verlander spoke with reporters Friday, his daughter Genevieve was in the background playing officially at 2 1/2 years old.
Having Tommy John surgery hurts because he can't be on the field, for his teammates or himself, but Verlander's only worrying about what he can control.
Those are things like his routine -- mornings start in the gym, then with a personal trainer before spending afternoons with family.
Verlander is throwing from 90 feet, only his fastball and nothing off-speed for now.
It's hard to say if or when he'll return to the Astros.
Verlander's surgery was Sept. 30, 2020 and the recovery time is typically 12-14 months.
"The timeline is impossible," Verlander said Friday. "I have to listen to my doctors. I have to listen to my body. The hard thing about this is, it's one of those surgeries they told me you can't over-push it, which is against my nature. I always try to, anytime I've been injured in the past, it's what can I do to get back as soon as possible. This time, it's like you need to make sure you follow the protocols and not try to get too far ahead of yourself because you can really ruin the whole surgery and the you're looking at the end of a career.
"So, first and foremost I want to make sure I hit every check mark every step of the way and not try to look too far ahead."
Verlander compared this recovery process to his first major surgery in 2014 for a core injury. It didn't cost him a full season, but Verlander looks back on it with appreciation for how much he learned about taking care of his body.
Seven years ago, Verlander just wanted his personal trainer from New York to get him right enough to pitch through his contract with dignity.
"That just really kind of put things in perspective for me about where I've come since that time," Verlander said. "Now, I have quite the opposite mindset. My mindset to continue to take care of my body the way I've learned how and how far that takes me, I don't know. But I know I'm nowhere close to the finish line yet. I'm hoping whenever my body and mind say that it's time to go, that I look at this rehab the same way I did that one. Where it's like, OK, did it happen? Yes. Did it suck at the time? Yes. But, what did you learn? How did you come out of it? Did it prepare you for the long haul? There's a lot of different things that go into that. Mentality, mindset, body.
"I'm trying to hit the reset the button on all of it right now. I've got this great opportunity. It's funny to say you look at an injury as an opportunity. But there's really never been a time in my life when I haven't had that grind where I'm pitching every five days, then I'm going into an offseason to prepare to pitch again every five days for the next season. Right now, I've got this window of time that I've never had. I'm looking to try to just reset everything -- mind, body -- get as healthy as I possibly can, not just my arm, but everything. That way, whenever the time comes to get back on the mound in competition, I can hit the ground running and go as long as it takes me."
The time away has allowed Verlander to focus on his mechanics suffering due to overcompensation for the body breaking down. He had poor positioning even in 2019, when he last one the Cy Young, and it became worse in the leadup to the 2020 season.
Verlander, who turned 38 in February, said there has been no discussion about another contract extension. That's especially considering the team's been so supportive through his injury sidelining him through most of his current contract.
The priority is to show the Astros he's healthy, to earn his keep, as Verlander put it.
"I think anybody would like to see how my rehab continues to go further down the line," Verlander said. "I think I would have to prove that I'm healthy before that's even a topic of conversation."
Verlander expects to return to the pitcher he was before Tommy John. One thing Verlander is really pleased with his the way he's spinning his fastball. While it's the only pitch he's throwing, the spin is true and exactly what he would be looking for even if he was not returning from an injury.
Verlander was concerned going into the surgery whether it would change the way he throws his fastball, which as been great for his entire career. So far, it does not seem affected.
For the two-time Cy Young winner, age is just a number. He said he still recovers as well as he ever did.
"I think this is what's so great about having the wealth of information I have in my head just from pitching for so long," Verlander said. "If something's a little different, I know how to adjust. I know how to change. I know how to throw a changeup. I haven't used it much in a while, but that's in there, too. So, there's a lot of things that I think are going to change a little bit. I'm working hard on adjusting my body, unwinding some of the compensations and getting my body back to where it was before I got injured and possibly way before that, before some other compensations creeped in, yeah, my mechanics might change.
"If you add more mobility in some places, it will probably have to affect your mechanics in some way, shape or form. But I think these are all positive things. I think my mechanics that I had, the last time you guys really saw me, is probably not really my natural mechanics. It was rigid and not very fluid. I think that would just be some compensations that I was making for 3,000 innings and my elbow just not really wanting to do it much longer. We didn't know that at the time. But I think this injury made sense for a lot of stuff I had been dealing with."