Chuck Hernandez had a line he loved to use on Justin Verlander."When your head catches up with your arm, you'll really be something," Hernandez would say when he was the Tigers pitching coach in Verlander's first three full big league seasons.Now it's the opposite. If Verlander's arm can catch up with his head, he could still really be something.It hasn't happened yet, but the most important takeaway from Verlander's first two major league starts of 2015 is that it could.Tigers staff, rival scouts and Verlander himself agree that he's healthier than he ever was in an underwhelming 2014, and that his early numbers (a 6.17 ERA, with four home runs and only four strikeouts in 11.2 innings) can be blamed mostly on rust and a lack of command.His fastball has life it never had last year, when Verlander was never completely healthy. His curve has a sharper, harder break."He's got plenty of stuff to pitch with," Tigers manager Brad Ausmus said.Verlander's also got plenty of motivation to prove that he can still be one of the best starters in the game."Yeah, I've got a little chip on my shoulder," Verlander admitted.He hated hearing people say that he was over the hill at age 32, that all the pitches he's thrown (32,729, more than anyone in baseball over the last 10 years) had caught up with him, or even that his romance with Kate Upton got in the way.Anyone who knows him understands that he's as determined as ever and as competitive as ever. What teammates used to say about him is still true: Verlander doesn't ever think he should give up a hit, let alone a run."He's a very competitive guy," teammate David Price said. "Last year did not set well with him at all.""He works hard every winter," said Tigers pitching coach Jeff Jones. "But this winter he really worked hard. He wants to prove to everybody here, and to himself, that he can still be elite."It's important to the Tigers that he does just that. The Tigers got off to an 11-2 start without Verlander, but even with that they've struggled to stay above .500. They should be better than that, and now that both Verlander and designated hitter Victor Martinez are back and seemingly healthy, there's no excuse for not being better.The Tigers may well have missed Martinez more than Verlander because of the effect he has on the middle of the order and on the number of pitches Miguel Cabrera gets to hit. But just as Martinez can join with Cabrera to give the Tigers an unmatched middle of the order, Verlander can join with Price to give them an unmatched top of the rotation.Price has been his usual dominant self, with a 2.04 ERA in nine starts since the beginning of May. But can Verlander be the dominant pitcher he was when he won the Cy Young and MVP in 2011 and when he finished second to Price in Cy Young voting in 2012'"Close," Jones insists.People around the Tigers organization always thought Verlander had a better chance to age well than most hard-throwing starters because his secondary pitches were always so good. At his best, Verlander could strike out 10 batters in one game relying on his curve, then strike out 10 the next time out by relying on his changeup.Last Friday, in a game that will be remembered much more for Alex Rodriguez's 3,000th hit (a first-inning home run off Verlander), Verlander used all three of those pitches, effectively at times, not so effectively at other times."I'm definitely encouraged by how everything feels, and how the ball is coming out of my hand," he said. "I'm definitely encouraged and optimistic."The Tigers are somewhat encouraged, cautiously optimistic and definitely dependent on Verlander regaining his dominant formand not just for this season.Verlander is in the third year of a seven-year contract that guarantees him $112 million over the next four seasons. With the money they've committed to Verlander, Cabrera ($248 million over eight years, beginning in 2016) and Martinez ($54 million over the next three seasons), the Tigers likely won't be able to keep Price (a free agent after this season). They may not be able to keep Yoenis Cespedes (also a free agent this fall), either.All of that makes this season even more important for the Tigers, who have won four straight American League Central titles but still haven't won a World Series since 1984.All of this makes Verlander and his dominance more crucial to the success of the Tigers.His head says he can do it, even that he will do it. Now he just needs his arm to catch up.Danny Knobler covers Major League Baseball as a national columnist for Bleacher Report. Follow Dannyon Twitterand talk baseball.
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