DETROIT -- The impending sense of doom here has reached epidemic stages on several fronts. And one of those fronts is due to blow through Motown again Thursday night, when Justin Verlander, the Detroit Tigers' one-time ace, drags his 1-5 record and 6.28 ERA to the mound.
At least the Tigers picked up a little steam Wednesday night when they pulled off a dramatic 10-9 win in the ninth inning against Boston closer Jonathan Papelbon, snapping a five-game losing streak.
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| Skipper Jim Leyland: 'There's nothing wrong with Justin Verlander. You can take that to the bank.' (Getty Images) |
Oh, no!
There was a time was when this would have been one of those mound duels that even caused Bob Gibson to stop what he was doing and tune in.
Beckett is pure testosterone. Mr. Big Game Hunter. He was 4-0 with a 1.20 ERA during Boston's triumphant ride through last October. Angels, Indians and Rockies hitters can still hear those filthy fastballs sizzle in their sleep.
Yep, it would be an outstanding matchup if this were the Verlander who won 17 games while pitching Detroit to the 2006 World Series. Or if this was the guy who was even better in 2007, firing a no-hitter along the way.
Sigh.
Where is that guy?
"I think Justin Verlander is absolutely fine," said Detroit manager Jim Leyland, who currently is putting out more brush fires than Smokey the Bear. "There's nothing wrong with Justin Verlander. You can take that to the bank."
Leyland isn't a doctor, but he's playing one in the Detroit manager's office. Did you know that Verlander this season has been examined from so many angles that he's only one colonoscopy short of a full physical exam?
He can't win anymore. His ERA is up. His velocity is down. He looks like he's hurt.
Oh, that last one was a good one. Came up in Minnesota last weekend, when Twins broadcaster -- and former Tigers great -- Jack Morris told the Detroit writers that he thinks Verlander is hurt because the right-hander isn't getting the same arm extension he once did.
"What the heck?" Verlander said. "Everybody has something to say. Why the fall in velocity? Why aren't the numbers the same as before?
"I feel fine. I pitch at 95 (mph). I never threw 98, 100. Occasionally I would. When I needed it, I'd amp it up.
"I've hit 97 a few times this year. Even 98. I guess it's not good enough."
Bottom line? Verlander has yet to find the rarified groove that wowed everyone the previous two seasons, but he's not nearly as far off as his numbers indicate.
But don't take it from me. Take it from the Tigers' opposition.
Minnesota hitting coach Scott Ullger, who managed the Twins in the absence of Ron Gardenhire last weekend, was thoroughly impressed last Saturday.
Angels center fielder Torii Hunter was still talking about facing Verlander the previous Sunday (a 6-2 Angels win in which Verlander yielded seven hits and six runs in 5 2/3 innings) after he landed back in Southern California.
"He's still nasty," said Hunter, who, as a member of the Twins, regularly faced Verlander in AL Central matchups in '06 and '07. "I think maybe he just took a little tick off his fastball just because you have to do that if you're going to stick around. (Cleveland's) C.C. Sabathia has done it. He used to pitch at 98, and he's backed off some."
Said Verlander: "He's seen my stuff enough to recognize it. If he says it's the same ..."
No question, guys adjust and refine as they mature and progress, and while Verlander says he hasn't purposely dialed down his fastball, the fact that radar guns aren't popping quite as much doesn't surprise him.
"Maybe it's because I'm trying to pitch," Verlander said. "I can't throw my way to 10 years in the big leagues. That's not going to happen.
"I felt the adjustments I made last year helped a lot. I fine-tuned my mechanics some so I didn't have maximum effort on every pitch. It's easier on my body and easier on my arm. In terms of that, my shoulder felt outstanding last year.
"My first year, I was fatigued at the end of the year. That was really, really tough on me. Last year, I did a lot of work on my shoulder and felt I pitched better, instead of just throwing."
Verlander's ERA inched upward in his sophomore season -- barely -- to 3.66 from 3.63. But opponents hit only .233 against him. In his rookie season in 2006, opponents hit .266 against him.
This year, while the ERA has soared, opponents are hitting only .251 against him.
While no one is suggesting that Verlander is lights-out this year -- so far -- there is more evidence that he's not nearly as bad as some think.
His record? In four of Verlander's five losses, the Tigers had not scored a run when he left the game.
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His bloated ERA? Not good at all ... but it's higher than maybe it should be in part because the Tigers' bullpen has allowed six of the nine runners it has inherited from Verlander to score.
He thinks he has pitched much better lately, but even with his best curve of the season in Minnesota on Saturday, his questionable choice in pitches led to Michael Cuddyer cracking an RBI single in the sixth to push a 1-0 Twins lead to 2-0. The questionable part? Verlander threw Cuddyer back-to-back changeups, and the Twins outfielder poked the second one for a single.
Leyland asked Verlander about it afterward, and "I told him my thoughts, that I was trying to get a rollover ground-ball out (with a runner on third and two out) and that I thought it was the right pitch," Verlander said. "I explained it to him, and he agreed that if I'm confident in what I'm going to throw, I should throw it."
Said Leyland: "I don't like back-to-back changeups to right-handed hitters. When you can throw 95, 96 mph ... I think he got away from his strength. But I don't have a problem because he thought he could get a ground ball with a 2-and-0 changeup, and that's a sound reason to me. It shows he's at least concentrating, and that there's a thought process. It just didn't work."
To that degree, in the stuff vs. changeups argument, Leyland thinks there's nothing wrong with Verlander this season that maybe doesn't start in his mind.
"I think a lot of it's mental," the manager said. "I think sometimes it gets in people's head that you know you're going to have to make adjustments because people tell you that. Verlander's a stuff guy."
Right now, he's a stuff guy who has learned quite a bit about his body and mechanics during his first two years in the majors. He's a stuff guy who has figured out that an important component of staying power in the majors is to not have to give maximum effort on every single pitch.
And right now, he's just a hard-luck stuff guy.
"Whatever I'm doing is working," he said, confident as ever that his season is about to turn for the better. "I don't want to be that guy who comes in one year throwing the crap out of the ball and we go to a World Series, and then I flame out."