Verlander (groin) threw a successful simulated game Thursday, Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle reports.
Verlander was scratched from his scheduled Grapefruit League start against the Nationals on Thursday due to groin discomfort, but he was still able to complete a simulated outing and said afterwards that it went about as good as he could have hoped. Assuming the veteran right-hander checks out OK in the coming days, Verlander should slot back into the Grapefruit League pitching schedule sometime next week, which will give him plenty of time to get up to speed before the start of the season.