Justin Verlander aces exhibition debut with Mets
Mets starting pitcher Justin Verlander throws during the second inning of a spring training game against the Marlins on Saturday in Jupiter, Fla. Credit: AP/Lynne Sladky
JUPITER, Fla. — There was a moment immediately before Justin Verlander took the mound Saturday against the Marlinsw when he looked down at his chest and noted the orange M-E-T-S lettering across the blue uniform.
Justin Verlander, New York Met, has been real for three months. But it felt a little more so on Saturday in his first spring training game with his new team.
“I did glance down on my way out and just kind of [thought], this is pretty cool,” he said. “It’s only been a couple times in my career I’ve changed uniforms. Obviously a new fan base, new teammates, we’re just trying to figure each other out.
“A lot of fun comes with that. It’s a bit nerve-wracking, but new experiences, new challenges are what helps you write fun new chapters in your life book. Hopefully this can be one of them.”
Verlander’s results were solid in the Mets’ 15-4 win over the Marlins. He threw 35 pitches (28 strikes) in three innings, allowing one run and two hits. He struck out three and walked none.
His fastest pitch was his last, a 96.3-mph four-seamer that Luis Arraez — the American League batting champion last season, since traded to Miami — lifted to centerfield for a routine flyout.
Verlander recorded strikeouts on a slider down and away to Bryan De La Cruz, an elevated fastball to Jesus Sanchez and another high fastball to Justin Amaya.
“First time on the mound against competition, so it felt great to be out there,” he said. “Control felt pretty good. But I don’t want to be too nitpicky this time of year. First time in competition, you have to allow your body a chance to get used to moving fast again. For a first start, I think all in all, I checked all the boxes I would like.”
Verlander even mixed in three changeups, all in the third inning. Reviving that pitch is a perennial point of emphasis for him and he hopes this will be the year it becomes usable again, as it was early in his career.
“The first one [to Joe Rizzo] felt great. I loved the swing and miss,” he said. “The second one [also to Rizzo] he hit right back at me, so I didn’t like that. But he didn’t hit it that hard. I got an out out of it. The eye test was pretty good. The second thing is to look at some of the metrics of it. It felt good.”
Manager Buck Showalter said: “Guys like him, they’re always searching for another look, another something else [opposing hitters] have to prepare to defend.”
The brief outing also satisfied some of Verlander’s curiosity about the pitch clock. This being his first experience with it in a game, he made several conclusions, including that he should spend less time walking around the back of the mound at the start of innings and between batters.
He said there were occasions when he looked up post-jaunt and realized he had about seven seconds to throw a pitch.
“If me and Omar [Narvaez, the catcher] weren’t on the same page, it could’ve been a problem,” Verlander said. “And I really never want to throw a pitch without conviction behind it. I don’t want to just throw something because we ran out of time.”
Verlander had spoken with Max Scherzer about the pitch clock, but that conversation didn’t necessarily do much for him.
“Max couldn’t really help me because he’s doing a different route,” he said. “He’s trying to find all the ways to get an edge from it. That could be something that I want to do later on, but my first thing was, can I just be in my normal routine? Will there be any adjusting? And go from there.”
With about four more outings before the end of camp, Verlander said he prefers those to be Grapefruit League games, not on practice fields against minor-leaguers.
But he is comfortable making exceptions if he wants to avoid the Marlins, his first opponent come regular season, or long drives to away games. Both of those variables will be in play in the final days of the Mets’ exhibition schedule.
“I get more out of it when I face legit lineups,” Verlander said. “The back-fields stuff, it just doesn’t feel the same.”
Tim Healey is the Mets beat writer for Newsday. Born on Long Island and raised in Connecticut, Tim has previously worked for the South Florida Sun Sentinel, the Boston Globe and MLB.com. He is also the author of “Hometown Hardball,” a book about minor league baseball in the northeast.
