VerHagen is expected to work as a "piggyback" reliever behind starter Daniel Norris in Thursday's game against the Indians, Chris McCosky of The Detroit News reports.
Norris has delivered solid results while working exactly three innings in each of his last three starts, so he'll presumably be in store for another early departure in his next turn before giving way to VerHagen. Detroit deployed VerHagen in a traditional starting role his last time out in Minnesota over the weekend, with the right-hander covering six innings while fanning a career-high 11 batters. That performance may result in VerHagen earning additional starts in the final month of the season, but he'll shift to the bullpen for at least this week after Monday's off day allowed Detroit to streamline the rotation.