Justin Verlander Has Big Plans for Himself
This past week, Houston Astros starting pitcher Justin Verlander clarified his future plans in a big way. Verlander told Chandler Rome of The Houston Chronicle that he would like to pitch for several more years. Rome shared the exact tweet on Twitter regarding Verlander’s insight.
Justin Verlander: “I changed a lot of stuff that some people would think was unnecessary. But I thought it was necessary, especially if I want to play eight or 10 more years." – https://t.co/OSCUkUOMi5
— Chandler Rome (@Chandler_Rome) July 10, 2020
As Verlander indicated, he has undergone mechanical changes the past few years. That likely played a big part in why the right-hander won the American League Cy Young Award last year. Furthermore, since being traded to the Astros from the Detroit Tigers, Verlander has been the most impactful pitcher for Houston.
In fact, last season Verlander was so impactful with the Astros, that he finished the season with 300 strikeouts. In addition, he concluded the regular season with the “third-lowest WHIP in modern-day history.”
Although, Verlander told Rome that he “watched his fastball velocity dip and felt his pitching mechanics gradually change.” As a result, the 37-year old wants to make the necessary changes now to have an impact later on down the road.
Deep Dive into Justin Verlander’s Mechanics and 2020 Role
Heading into this coming season, Verlander will be the primary ace of the Houston Astros staff. Since the 2018 season, Verlander had former Astros starting pitcher Gerrit Cole helping him anchor down the top of the rotation. Now that Cole has departed Houston and went to the New York Yankees in free agency, Verlander is now solely at the top.
Additionally, according to the Steamer Model conducted by FanGraphs, Verlander is poised to finish the coming season with a 3.47 ERA over 68.0 innings of work. Furthermore, that model predicts he will finish with 89 strikeouts while holding opponents to a .215 Batting Average Against over that sample.
Beyond all of that, it remains unclear exactly how the changes to Verlander’s mechanics could alter his pitch repertoire. However, some of the data from the 2019 regular season could offer a glimpse into Verlander’s overall pitch repertoire. According to Baseball Savant, Verlander was a primary four-seam fastball pitcher last year. He threw that pitch 49.9% of the time.
In addition, Verlander relied on his slider 28.7%, curveball 17.3%, and changeup 4.2% of the time. Compared to the 2018 regular season, the overall amount of each pitch changed. For example, in 2018 Verlander threw his fastball 61.2% of the time. Additionally, the right-hander increased the amount he threw his slider from 22.3% in 2018 to the aforementioned 28.7%.
Looking ahead to the future, it’s hard to decipher exactly what changes Verlander might make to those percentages. Although, it is very clear that he has his eyes set on making the necessary changes to prolong his health and ensure that he is pitch well into his mid-40’s. If that indeed happens, then Verlander could very well be on his way to writing quite a legacy in the history books.
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