Justin Verlander One Step Away From Rejoining New York Mets

Ace pitcher Justin Verlander is one step away from rejoining the Mets.

NEW YORK - He's extremely close.

Mets ace pitcher Justin Verlander will make a rehab start on Friday (affiliate currently unknown), which is the final hurdle he must clear before coming off the injured list.

The plan is for Verlander to throw between three and four innings in his rehab outing. He threw a total of 43 pitches in his live batting practice session on Sunday.

If all goes well, Verlander would presumably start for the Mets against his former team in the Detroit Tigers on Wednesday, May 3 in the motor city.

According to Verlander, he will make his rehab start and "then go," indicating that the next step will be pitching for the Mets in the big-leagues.

"I want to be back out there competing," Verlander said. "I take a lot of pride in being out there on the mound and being there for the boys."

Verlander has been on the IL with a teres major strain since Opening Day. He is frustrated that the recovery process took over a month, but says he is happy that he is at 99% at the moment.

The Mets' starting rotation has been decimated by injuries, losing Verlander, Carlos Carrasco and Jose Quintana to the IL. Max Scherzer will also miss a start as he serves a 10-game suspension for using sticky substances.

Getting Verlander back will be a major boost to a Mets rotation that has had to fully dip into their pitching staff through the first 23 games of the regular season.

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