SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — On the cusp of his 20th major-league season, there isn’t much that Justin Verlander hasn’t experienced at this point in his career. For all his experience, his start on Monday afternoon represented a rare first: pitching in the Cactus League.
“I was told not to overly concern myself with pitch shapes here and the movement of the ball because it’s tough,” Verlander said. “But I’m hypercritical.”
Verlander, wearing his familiar No. 35, tossed two innings against the Colorado Rockies at Scottsdale Stadium in his first ever spring training start under the Arizona sunshine, allowing one run on a solo homer across two innings. Along with pitching his first Cactus League game, Verlander experienced another rare, albeit unfortunate, first when he dropped the ball with a runner on base, resulting in a balk.
Most pitchers with Verlander’s credentials wouldn’t give much consideration to an inconsequential home run in February. Verlander, though, is preparing for the image of Toglia’s home run to run on replay well into the night.
“I think a lot of pitchers — me in particular — have a tendency to be a little over critical and maybe tinker when you don’t need to sometimes,” Verlander said. “I’m trying to balance that. This is the first time I’ve had competition. So, I’ll think about it. I’ll be thinking about it all night. I won’t get much sleep.”
“The intensity’s there with everything he does — spring training or not,” said manager Bob Melvin after the Giants’ 2-2 tie with the Rockies.
Verlander, who turned 42 last week, spent the first two-ish decades of his professional career with teams that played spring training in the Grapefruit League: the Detroit Tigers (Lakeland, Fla.) and the Houston Astros (West Palm Beach, Fla.). For pitchers, the difference between six weeks in Arizona and six weeks in Florida is not insignificant.
Due to the dry desert air, Verlander’s pitches will move differently in Scottsdale compared to San Francisco, specifically, and most ballparks across the country, generally. Verlander laughed that just about everyone told him not to get overly wrapped up with his pitch shapes, but Verlander added the need for being “honest with yourself.” Verlander credited Logan Webb, who had a 10.97 ERA in spring last year, for sharing his experiences with the Arizona air.
“I try not to take too much into shapes,” Verlander said. “I try to take more away from hitter reactions. But it’s also like going into Colorado or Arizona where you know the pitch shapes aren’t going to react the exact same.
“So, it’s actually a new challenge for me in spring. … When you come out of a start, you’re like, ‘Do I need to work on that? Or is it just the air and it’s not quite catching the way I would have it normally?’ That’s something that I’m going to have to really think about.”
Verlander may have to give second thought to the movement profile of his pitches, but he likely won’t be worrying about his velocity.
The right-hander threw 18 four-seam fastballs against the Rockies with an average velocity of 94.8 mph, topping out at 95.97 mph according to the Scottsdale Stadium scoreboard. Last season, Verlander’s average fastball clocked in at 93.5 mph, a dip that was due in large part to the neck and shoulder injuries that plagued him.
Verlander said his average velocity in spring training has a tendency to oscillate from year to year. Early in his career, Verlander topped out at 92-93 mph, but would ramp up to triple digits by the time the season started. Other years, Verlander would sit in the mid-90s and maintain into the season.
“I thought he threw the ball extremely well,” said catcher Max Stassi, a teammate of Verlander’s with the Houston Astros. “The resumé speaks for itself. He’s been a horse in this league for a long, long time and he showed exactly why.”
Luciano flexes muscle in Tempe
Marco Luciano, currently in competition for San Francisco’s fourth outfield spot, had the Giants’ most impressive swing of the afternoon, albeit not one in Scottsdale.
Against the Los Angeles Angels in Tempe, Luciano hit a towering solo home run off the Angels’ José Suarez that nearly cleared the batter’s eye. Tempe Diablo Stadium does not have Statcast capabilities, but the distance was likely in the 430-foot range given the center-field wall is 420 feet from home plate.
At Scottsdale Stadium, Jung Hoo Lee snuck a low line drive over the right-field fence for his first home run of spring.
“Way more comfortable today,” Melvin said. “Not only does he hit the ball out of the ballpark, but then gets in some deep counts, taking some pitches that he was probably swinging at the other day. It’s been a while since he’s had at-bats. He looked a lot more comfortable today.”