Welcome to The Pregame Lineup, a weekday newsletter that gets you up to speed on everything you need to know for today's games, while catching you up on fun and interesting stories you might have missed. Today's edition is brought to you by David Adler.
Tonight we get a real blast from the past: Justin Verlander in a Tigers uniform.
Back with his original team, the likely Hall of Famer is making his first start of the season against the D-backs at 10:10 p.m. ET.
Tigers manager A.J. Hinch called Verlander a "living legend" this weekend, and that's the truth.
Verlander began his career with the Tigers as a 22-year-old in 2005 and spent 12 1/2 seasons in Detroit, winning a Cy Young and MVP Award in 2011. Now the oldest player in the American League at 43, Verlander will be pitching his first game for the Tigers since he was traded to the Astros in 2017.
In Verlander's words: "It's kind of like a full circle thing."
JV's Tigers reunion is actually just one of a bunch of interesting 2026 pitching debuts happening today. Here are five more you'll want to watch:
Reds RHP Chase Burns (vs. Pirates, 6:40 p.m. ET)
Hunter Greene's elbow injury opened the door for Burns to win a spot in the Reds' rotation, and now we get to see if the 23-year-old righty can harness his electric stuff in his sophomore season. Burns had an up-and-down debut in 2025, but there's no question how high Burns' ceiling is. He had a ridiculous 36% strikeout rate and 32% swing-and-miss rate as a rookie, his fastball touched triple digits and his slider is a wipeout pitch.
Blue Jays RHP Cody Ponce (vs. Rockies, 7:07 p.m. ET)
Ponce is returning to the Major Leagues for the first time in five years after reinvigorating his career in Korea, where he was the KBO League MVP last year. The 31-year-old is a totally different pitcher now, armed with a 95-plus mph fastball -- several mph harder than the last time he was in the Majors -- and a filthy new changeup he learned overseas. Ponce had a 0.66 ERA for the Jays this spring, and he looks legit.
Red Sox LHP Ranger Suarez (at Astros, 8:10 p.m. ET)
Suarez was Boston's marquee free-agent signing this offseason, and the former Phillies All-Star makes his anticipated Red Sox debut tonight. The Sox are counting on Suarez to join ace Garrett Crochet and trade acquisition Sonny Gray in leading the team back to the playoffs in 2026.
Yankees LHP Ryan Weathers (at Mariners, 9:40 p.m. ET)
Weathers is an X-factor for the Yankees' rotation this season. Acquired from the Marlins in January, the 26-year-old southpaw has overpowering stuff -- he's one of the hardest-throwing lefties in the Majors, and the closest comps for his fastball-slider-changeup combo are Jesús Luzardo, Tarik Skubal and Crochet. On the other hand, Weathers also got knocked around in Spring Training. So what will the Yankees get out of him in the regular season? We'll find out when Weathers pitches his first game in pinstripes tonight.
Dodgers RHP Roki Sasaki (vs. Guardians, 10:10 p.m. ET)
Sasaki's time in the Major Leagues has been an insane roller-coaster ride. In just one year, he's: arrived from Japan as an elite prospect … struggled so badly he was sent to the Minors last summer … re-emerged as a lights-out postseason closer for the World Series champs … and had one of the shakiest Spring Trainings imaginable where he consistently struggled to throw strikes. Well, the real games are here, and it's time for Roki to step up if he wants to stay in the Dodgers' starting rotation.
