Justin Verlander welcomes new teammate and apologizes for fastball to the groin

By foxsports
Published

Detroit Tigers ace Justin Verlander stays current on his team's transactions and often welcomes his new teammates with Twitter well-wishes. But it got a bit awkward Wednesday.

The Tigers agreed to a minor-league deal with free-agent utility man Jordany Valdespin. No big deal, right?

Wrong.

Back in spring training of 2013, Verlander hit Valdespin in a very awkward place with a 94-mph fastball on a failed bunt attempt. Valdespin admitted he wasn't wearing a cup and vowed to do so going forward. Although there are no hard feelings between the players, Valdespin obviously remembers what happened that March. And apparently so does Verlander:

In the meantime, happy holidays to everyone else: Here's Verlander's girlfriend, Kate Upton, working out with her dog nearby.