Astros’ Justin Verlander Is Impressed With Himself
Houston Astros pitcher Justin Verlander is very impressed with himself these days.
The 37-year-old made his first start of Spring Training this past week. In the effort he threw 53 pitches versus the St. Louis Cardinals – with multiple fastballs hitting the 93 to 95 mile per hour range. Some pitches went as quickly as 97 miles per hour.
Following the outing, Verlander was really caught off guard by how fast his pitches were.
“I was pretty surprised seeing some of the numbers I saw,” he said.
The reigning AL Cy Young winner has been dealing with groin issues as of late, but apparently that was not slowing down his pitches.
“I think after today I can start to forget about worrying about my groin,” he said.
“And just go about my routine and worry about getting my pitch shape and deception that I want.”
Last year, Verlander seemed to lose a little bit of the zip that he used to put on the ball.
Nevertheless, he still had a very strong 2019 campaign. He ended up throwing 21-6 with a 2.58 ERA and 300 strikeouts over the course of his 34 starts.
Was Verlander’s strong performance on Tuesday an indicator of things to come in 2020? Time will tell.
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Jennifer Withers Hoey is a former Business Development Manager who transitioned to writing about sports. With valuable connections all over the West Coast, she has used those contacts to break some of the most interesting stories pertaining to the Portland Trail Blazers, Oregon Ducks, LA Lakers, LA Clippers, Seattle Supersonics (RIP), and more.
