The 41-year-old Verlander worked four innings for Double-A Corpus Christi on Saturday. His season was delayed for the second year in a row after he experienced what he described a “little hiccup” in his pitching shoulder in February.

“The first thing is health, and I came out of (Saturday’s game) feeling good,” Verlander told MLB.com. “Obviously, I have some stuff to work on pitching-wise, but that’s kind of what Spring Training is for and what rehab starts are for. I felt better last time than I did the (rehab start) before, so just keep building on that, and like I always do, kind of work on stuff in the bullpen in between and keep trying to make it click.”

Last season, Verlander went 13-8 with a 3.22 ERA in 27 combined starts with the Astros and Mets, who traded him back to Houston in August.

He also made three postseason starts before the Astros were eliminated by the Rangers in the American League Championship Series.

“It’s good to get him back in the rotation and what it means to this club,” Manager Joe Espada told MLB.com. “Just to get him back on track and get some innings from him, fill our rotation with the pieces that we need to move forward, it’s exciting to have him back.”

Verlander was drafted by the Tigers with the No. 2 overall pick in 2004 and pitched for the Tigers from 2005-2017.

The Tigers traded Verlander to the Houston Astros at the trade deadline in 2017 and he’s since won two World Series and two more Cy Young awards.

Overall, he’s 257-141 and he trails only another former Tiger, Max Scherzer, on the all-time strikeout list among active players.