Verlander Thinks, And Throws, His Way Out Of Trouble
Very few pitchers can done what Justin Verlander did Thursday against Minnesota and at least two other times this season.
Guy gets to third base with nobody out, and doesn't move for three straight batters.
Michael Cuddyer tripled leading off the second inning of Detroit's 6-2 victory over Minnesota. The game was scoreless at the time.
Verlander, who had been easing his fastball into the strike zone at 91-93 mph, as he has done in most first innings this year, decided it was an appropriate time to gear it up a notch with Jim Thome at the plate. Fastballs 97 mph and up, mixed in with a couple of off-speed pitches, that ran the count full before Verlander fanned the DH with a high, 98 mph heater.
Danny Valencia came next, and after setting him up with some upper-90s fastballs, Verlander got him to chase a 1-2 curve for the second out. Delmon Young ended the threat with a soft groundout to second base.
Before this season, Verlander might have gone exclusively to the high-velocity fastball, trying to throw it so hard it would straighten out and be hittable.
Now he gets cunning. He'll spot his 98-101 mph fastball with the curve and/or slider plus an occasional changeup. Hitters start think about pitch X, and Verlander will confound them with pitch Y.
"It's not a high point," Verlander said of getting out of the early jam, "but it's exciting, and it's kind of a momentum-builder for our team. At that point, it's 0-0, a leadoff triple, and most of the time that guy's going to score. I made a very conscious effort after that inning to slow myself down."
Not many pitchers can dial up a strikeout on demand. Nobody can get a strikeout when he wants it all the time.
But Verlander has the weapons, and now the mentality, to give himself a good chance in those key situations.
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