Justin Verlander

New York Yankees scout free agent and former Cy Young winner Justin Verlander

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Verlander

The New York Yankees are preparing for a very active offseason this year. Granted, their activity might be hindered in the short-term based on the lockout that could occur, but nevertheless, the Yankees know they have to make some upgrades and plan on doing so.

One of the most obvious areas for upgrades would be the starting rotation. Right now, there are once again a lot of question marks surrounding the Bombers rotation. Of course, you have Gerrit Cole who will be starting game one next season.

Behind him, Jordan Montgomery and Luis Severino figure to have spots in the rotation. Severino hasn’t started a game in a couple of years, but he did return and looked solid out of the bullpen in 2021. The Yankees are planning on slotting him back into the rotation.

Jameson Taillon will be a part of the rotation at some point, however, offseason ankle surgery will prevent him from starting the season. After that, you have options like Nestor Cortes, Domingo German, and Clarke Schmidt among others.

With the lack of certainty, the Yankees are already looking into the starting pitching market. The first guy they’ve looked at so far this offseason is someone that fans should be very familiar with. That pitcher would be former Cy Young award winner Justin Verlander.

Yankees in on Verlander?

This week, Justin Verlander had a bullpen session that was scouted by many teams in baseball. The Blue Jays and Mets were among the teams that sent scouts to watch Verlander who was apparently touching 95-96 MPH on his fastball.

The Yankees were also among the teams that sent out scouts to watch Verlander per Joel Sherman. The Yanks did this last year with Corey Kluber and they ended up signing Kluber to a one-year deal. While Kluber had moments, including a no-hitter, injuries plagued his time in pinstripes.

Verlander was shut down and was forced to get Tommy John surgery after one start in 2020. In that one start, Verlander got the win by going six innings and giving up two runs. Verlander also missed all of 2021 while recovering from Tommy John.

His last full season came back in 2019 and he was sensational. Verlander edged Gerrit Cole for the Cy Young by going 21-6 with a 2.58 ERA and a historic WHIP of .803 while assisting in leading Houston to the World Series which included defeating the Yankees. The prior year, Verlander finished second in the Cy Young voting.

Verlander has stated that he’s ready to go and he’s actually said that he wants to pitch until he’s 45 years old. The former Cy Young winner will be 39 years old by the time of Opening Day next season. Despite missing the last two seasons, the Astros made Verlander a qualifying offer.

If the Yankees were to sign Verlander, they would have to give up draft compensation to Houston. At this moment, there’s no indication on how serious the interest is from New York. However, it is a very Brian Cashman-like signing. This isn’t Corey Kluber btw, I think if Verlander were to sign with New York, he would make a much bigger impact.

MLB News: Important MLB News, Marlins shut down, and more, What you need to know?

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Verlander

Significant news across MLB:  Verlander out for the year? Marlins infected with the coronavirus and more make MLB headlines.

Miami Marlins have a “clear virus outbreak”

The Miami Marlins learned yesterday that hey had their fourth positive test since Friday, signaling an unacceptable team infection rate. Disregarding leading infectious disease doctors, why did the Marlins go ahead and play the Philadelphia Phillies yesterday?  It presents a pause by the New York Yankees who play the Phillies tonight.  Where any of the Philly players infected coming in contact with Marlins that may not have exhibited symptoms?

Multiple sources confirmed that the Marlins played despite having three players learn Sunday that they’d tested positive for COVID-19, just two days after a fourth player learned of a positive test on Friday. The Athletic confirmed Sunday that two infectious-disease specialists told them that those positive tests fit the definition of a “clear outbreak” of the virus within their team.

Nonetheless, neither the Marlins nor MLB though it would be necessary to postpone the game. However, as of this morning, eight players and two coaches have tested positive.  They have canceled their game with the Baltimore Orioles. The Miami Marlins may be the first team shut down by the coronavirus.

“I think that by any definition, this is an outbreak on their team,” said Dr. John Swartzburg, a clinical professor emeritus at UC Berkeley’s School of Public Health, Division of Infectious Disease. “And an outbreak on a team means that the team needs to close down.”

“Earlier, in (summer camp), if you didn’t have test results, you didn’t practice,” said Dr. Zachary Binney, an epidemiologist at Emory University’s Oxford College. “So to have four positive results and then play a game just seems totally unaligned with that.”

Several positive tests usually mean that more will be forthcoming.  Let’s hope that none of the Phillies that previously had the virus we again subjected to it.  As it will be the whole season, it’s sure to be in the minds of the Yankees tonight.

Houston Astros Verlander out for the season?

The Houston Astros pitching rotation is in ruins now.  First, the Astros lose pitching co-ace Gerrit Cole to the New York Yankees during the offseason, and now the other ace Cy Young Award winner Justin Verlander is lost to a forearm strain.  The Houston Chronicle reports that he will be out for the season, something manager Dusty Baker and Verlander himself denies.

Baker said we have shut him down for two weeks and then will reevaluate the situation.  Verlander echoed the sentiment saying is just a forearm strain and it will heal.  Whether he is shut down to two weeks or the whole season is not all that important in this short season.  Missing three to five starts for Verlander is a huge blow to the team in such a short season.

Even with pitchers Zack Greinke, Lance McCullers Jr., and Jose Urquidi, the loss of Cole and Verlander certainly reduces the Astros hopes of reaching the postseason.

Corey Kluber Leaves Rangers Debut After 1 Inning

Unfortunately, the Astros are not the only American League West ball club dealing with an injury to a key pitcher. Corey Kluber was removed from his Texas Rangers debut after the first inning because of “tightness in the back of his right shoulder”, per Rangers executive vice president of communications Jonn Blake.

But the timing of the Kluber injury hurts more with Verlander sidelined since that could have opened a door for Texas to pounce in the AL West with Kluber, Minor, and former Yankee Lance Lynn at the top of the rotation.

The COVID-19 virus looms over 2020 season

The coronavirus remains a major issue in baseball, in all of the sports, really. That’s where the worry comes in. What started as an encouraging weekend, when MLB announced only six positive tests out of nearly 11,000 samples, quickly took a frightening turn. The sport is facing a major challenge.

It started when Washington Nationals star outfielder Juan Soto had to miss the weekend series against the New York Yankees after testing positive Tuesday. The problem was he played in an exhibition game that night against the Baltimore Orioles before the test results came back Thursday. How many other players and staff members were at risk because of Soto?

Now the Miami Marlins found they had four positive tests on Sunday. Yesterday afternoon the Marlins played the Philadelphia Phillies possibly exposing them from asymptomatic players.  Tonight the Yankees face those Philadelphia Phillies.  The season was starting out well, over the weekend the infection rate had doubled.  One thing we know about the virus is that it has a domino effect.  The more players exposed, the more that will test positive, being into question if this 60 game season will be completed.

 

 

New York Yankees talk back: Gerrit Cole ranked 3rd best pitcher in MLB – do you agree?

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New York Yankees, Gerrit Cole

MLB Network uses a tool called “The Shredder” to determine the rankings of starting pitchers for the upcoming season, and this time around, New York Yankees newly signed ace, Gerrit Cole, landed in the No. 3 overall spot.

The top three are as follows:

1.) Jacob deGrom

2.) Justin Verlander

3.) Gerrit Cole

The New York Yankees can’t catch a projections break:

While some might agree with these rankings, I believe Cole should be rated ahead of Verlander, if not just overtaking deGrom for the top spot. However, deGrom is a worthy competitor and should be rated neck-and-neck with the $324 million-dollar man.

Cole, who earned career-highs in strikeouts (326) and ERA (2.50) in 2019, will enter his first season with the Yankees at 29-years-old. His AL-best 2.64 FIP and MLB-best 13.8 K/9 indicates further dominance, and “The Shredder” projects him to earn a 14-6 record, 3.24 ERA, 1.065 WHIP, and 247:53 K:BB ratio across 186 innings.

With the return of Giancarlo Stanton and Miguel Andujar in 2020, 14-wins seems a bit conservative, especially since the Bombers reached 103-wins last season. Cole is their ace, with Luis Severino and James Paxton filling the No. 2-3 spots, but the projections imposed on the new addition might be affected by Yankee Stadium, a place where pitchers often need time to adapt to.

My primary question here is: Why is Justin Verlander in second place?

At 37-years-old, it’s questionable to place him ahead of Cole, who’s almost a decade younger. Baseball-Reference projects Verlander to earn a 15-7 record, 3.12 ERA, 0.995 WHIP, and 238:37 K:BB ratio across 193 innings. Interestingly, Verlander ranked at the No. 5 pitcher in the league ahead of the 2019 season, and his massive jump this year is directly correlated to a second-consecutive World Series appearance.

With the Bombers boasting one of the best hitting orders in the league, the run support they will offer Cole will be significant, making the six losses a bit unrealistic. His improvement over the last two seasons should indicate a trend, as his ERA dropped from 2.88 in 2018 to 2.50 in 2019. If he continues this movement, the projections will be far off.

Comment below if you think Cole should be rated higher or lower in these projections!

New York Yankees: The key to beating the Houston Astros in the ALCS

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New York Yankees, James Paxton

Taking on the Houston Astros will be a far more difficult challenge for the New York Yankees in the ALCS. They managed to sweep the Minnesota Twins with ease in just three games, as their starting pitching stepped up to the plate and run production was as efficient as ever.

The New York Yankees need to carry their efforts in the ALCS:

The Yankees earned 23 runs over the three-game span and only allowed seven, which attest to their dominance in all facets of the game.

However, the Astros will be more difficult, especially at home. The three-person rotation of Justin Verlander, Gerrit Cole, and Zack Greinke are incredibly intimidating. Their three starters are far better than the Yankees’ James Paxton, Masahiro Tanaka, and Luis Severino.

The ultimate key for the Yankees in the ALCS is having their starters go more than four innings. Former Bronx Bomber, Alex Rodriguez, broke down why this is so important and how the starting pitching will be the difference between winning and losing for the Yankees.

“No, absolutely not,” A-Rod said. “What works in this long season, which is a marathon, and what works in seven games is another. If the Yankees average four innings a starter again, they will go home. They need 5, 5 1/3 and 6 would be ideal because you 27 outs sometimes for six or seven games.”

The Yankees will start the series on Saturday night in Houston, and they will face cranky, who got torn apart in game three of the ALDS against the Tampa Bay rays. Rodriguez called this game a goliath first goliath series. The similarities between two teams not only offers one of the more exciting showdowns in the postseason, but either side has the forces to win the World Series. It could ultimately come down to who peaks at the right time and the momentum they have going into the second round of the playoffs.

“They can both play the high-low game,” he said. “They can hit home runs or contact or situational hitting. They’re both strong analytical. They have defense. They’re both athletic. They’re both smart and they’re all students of the game.

Houston Astros take Game 1 of ALDS fueled by Verlander, Altuve

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The New York Yankees could pursue Gerrit Cole this offseason.

The Houston Astros opened up their postseason campaign with a 6-2 win over the Tampa Bay Rays. Fueled by a dominant outing from Justin Verlander, Altuve led the Astros with a home run off Trevor Glasnow in the fifth inning.

“I love the way he pitches every single day,” said Altuve on Verlander’s performance. “For me, he’s one of the greatest of all time and a Hall of Famer for me.”

Other then Altuve’s home run, the Astros scored on a fielding error by Brandon Lowe in the fifth, and in the seventh Yordan Álvarez doubled knocking in Alex Bregman and Yuli Gurriel knocked in Alvarez.

In seven full innings pitched, Verlander only allowed one hit while fanning eight. The two runs the Rays scored came in the top of the eighth inning off Ryan Pressly. Eric Sogard singled knocking in Joey Wendle and Austin Meadows doubled to deep-center knocking in Eric Sogard.

Game two will be played Saturday at 9:07PM in Houston. Gerrit Cole is on the mound for the Astros while the Rays are pitching left-hander Blake Snell.