Justin Verlander, like many pitchers, improved immediately upon joining the Astros
Ted Berg, USA TODAY SportsPublished 12:09 p.m. ET Oct. 13, 2018 | Updated 12:31 p.m. ET Oct. 13, 2018BOSTON — When Justin Verlander takes the mound Saturday night for Game 1 of the ALCS, he’ll do so as one of baseball’s most recognizable players: A seven-time All-Star, a former Cy Young and MVP Award winner, a Cy Young candidate again in 2018, and a likely future Hall of Famer.
But the 35-year-old right-hander’s familiarity, first fostered over parts of 13 stellar seasons with the Detroit Tigers, belies the fact he has been a fundamentally different pitcher since joining the Astros on Aug. 31 of last season.
Verlander was still plenty good in his final seasons in Detroit, but — like many pitchers in their mid-30s — his time as a front-of-the-rotation ace seemed coming to an end. After hernia surgery and a rough 2014 season, he rebounded to enjoy strong years in 2015 and 2016, but the velocity on his trademark fastball was down a few ticks, his once-devastating changeup was losing its effectiveness, and at the time of the trade, he was walking more batters than he had in any season since 2008, while he was still a developing pitcher.
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https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/mlb/2018/10/13/how-justin-verlander-became-better-pitcher-astros/1628624002/
