Trivia question: Which pitcher earned the victory in Detroit’s season-opener last year in Miami?
Answer: Drew VerHagen.
You remember the lanky Texan right-hander, right? He not only won a spot on the 25-man roster out of spring training, but for the first few weeks was one of manager Brad Ausmus’ go-to guys out of the bullpen.
With a fastball averaging 95 mph, off which he mixed a nasty, 12-to-6 curveball and an improving change-up, he gave up runs in one of his first nine appearances.
Hold on to that memory because nothing that happened after that was much good for VerHagen.