DETROIT -- The Tigers placed Justin Verlander on the 15-day DL Wednesday, but still believe that it won't be a lengthy stay.
The move is retroactive to March 29, two days after Verlander left the game in Dunedin, Fla., with two outs left in the third inning because of a right triceps strain.
Verlander returned to Detroit Wednesday and arrived in the clubhouse before the Tigers' game against the Minnesota Twins, the game Verlander had originally hoped to start.
Instead, Anibal Sanchez is set to pitch.
The Tigers called up Kyle Lobstein from Triple-A Toledo and said he is scheduled to start this Sunday in Cleveland in Verlander's place.
"It's disappointing," Verlander said. "Obviously, everything I'm doing was to try to get ready for Sunday. The days just kind of stack up. I needed to be able to pitch on Tuesday to be able to do that. I just wasn't ready.
"I talked to Brad (Ausmus) and Kevin (Rand, head athletic trainer) on the phone, and they said, 'Hey, listen, if you're not 100 percent, don't try to push it at this point. We need you for six months, not one start.'"
Verlander said he threw long toss Tuesday in Lakeland and felt good.
He also said he doesn't feel like he's lost any of the arm strength he had built up.
"It feels good. It's coming out great. It really is," Verlander said. "Arm strength, mechanics -- I don't really think you lose that much. I really only took three or four days off throwing, so I didn't lose it."
The original plan was for Verlander to face minor-league hitters Tuesday but after his last couple of pitches in his bullpen Sunday didn't feel so good, that plan was scrapped.
"It just kind of grabbed me a little bit," Verlander said. "The next day it was sore, which was why I wasn't able to go on Tuesday. Obviously, if I was sore the day after throwing a bullpen like that, it was probably not the smartest move to go right back out there and try to pitch in a game on Tuesday. So that is what set everything back a little bit."
Tigers manager Brad Ausmus said Verlander will have to do more than long toss in order to start.
"He's got to face hitters and feel OK facing hitters and then feel OK the next day," Ausmus said.
Verlander would most likely pitch in a simulated game.
"I can't tell you where we're going to slot him in because really after Sunday, we could slot him in anywhere depending on how he felt," Ausmus said. "So I can't tell you where he's going to pitch at this point."
As for Lobstein, he faced the Indians last September and fared well.
"He's a left-handed pitcher facing a team that has a lot of left-handed hitters," Ausmus said. "We had him knowing he could fill a hole if there was a long-term injury in our starting rotation. But I don't expect it to be more than one start."
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