New York Mets ace Justin Verlander is talking about what he thinks will be seen from him the most in the upcoming season.
Justin Verlander, who just won the Cy Young Award, is once again experimenting with the ratio of his different pitches, just like he has done throughout his whole 17-year career in the major leagues. Verlander’s changeup used to make up a large portion of his pitching repertoire; but, as his slider developed into a more effective weapon, he began to rely on it less and less. By the time he was in his mid-30s, Verlander had almost completely given up on his fourth pitch.
The previous year, Verlander had aspirations of reviving the changeup, but things were going so well for him that he hesitated to use it in important areas. Last year, Verlander had aspirations of restoring the changeup. Verlander intends to devote himself more fully to it now that he has the entirety of spring to do experiments.
Talking about it, Verlander said, “I worked at it, so I want to use it, I don’t want to waste my time. It would be nice to have something that breaks in the opposite direction under their barrel.”
During a live batting practice session on Sunday, Verlander continued to experiment with the changeup while facing hitters like Brandon Nimmo and Francisco Alvarez. He anticipates making his debut in the Grapefruit League either on Friday or Saturday of this week.
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