MUST-SEE JV NOW HAS THREE

By:  Holly Horning

He looked the same. He was even wearing #35. But that letter on his cap wasn’t a “D.”

And he is, once again, Must-See JV. Even if he’s playing for another team.

Should we be surprised that Justin is once again dominant?

No, because he is with a team known for taking talented guys, especially pitchers, and turning them into MLB-leading athletes.

The Tigers officially maintained radio silence on any congrats to JV for his no-hitter. Maybe it was because they unloaded him, another prospect and $16 million dollars for 3 players who do not appear to move the needle. A trade completed most probably as a pure salary dump but also the worst trade in Tigers history.

Or maybe it’s because JV’s performance since he has left now highlights how behind the times the Tigers truly are.

The powers that be have planted the idea that JV merely “reinvented” himself as he got older. But that’s hardly the case. Read any one of a number of articles in the national media and they will take you through how proactive and invested the Houston Astros are in building their team and getting the best performance out of each player.

Even JV has done a number of interviews where he praises Houston and gives them much of the credit.

JV has not returned to his old self. He’s simply become a better pitcher.

When he first moved to Houston, he made a comment about feeling like a kid in a candy store. The Astros had so many resources and people to help him. He said he never knew that all of this, coupled with state-of-the-art technology, was available. Translation: He never had any of this in Detroit. He never even knew it existed.

What Houston does is unique. When a pitcher comes into the fold, he sits down with all the Front Office heads, the analytics department, scouts and coaches for multiple-day intensive meetings. They present dossiers, charts and videos on his past performance. They have extensive stats on which pitches are his best – and worst.

They show video and break down his delivery. They discuss the strategies for improvement and then map out a program for going forward.

The Astros have super computers and Rapsodo and Edgertronic machines (the pitcher is hooked up to it with wires and a vest) which completely dissect every pitch and provide data. And there are high-speed cameras that capture every single movement of the pitcher. The same type of cameras that can perfectly record every single movement of a hummingbird in flight.

The Astros, to summarize, completely retooled Verlander’s arsenal and tweaked his delivery. They offer, as one analyst wrote, a program of designer pitches tailored for every arm on the team. They improved his slider by changing his hand position so it looked like a fastball coming off his hand. They eliminated his 2-seam fastball because it wasn’t effective.

They introduced him to spin rate which also helped increase his speed velocity. They eliminated his sinker and gave him the tools to increase his strikeouts. His focus now is on 4-seam fastballs paired with curveballs.

He strikes out 35% of batters he faces. His slider is being swung on and missed 40% of the time. His WHIP is .722.

The Astros freed him from the Tigers’ template which didn’t play to his strengths. As of late last week, he leads MLB in innings pitched, strikeouts, WHIP, strikeouts-to walks ratio and hits/9 innings – to name a few categories.

Oh, and also wins.

His ERA is 2.56.

Houston also happens to have the best analytics system (a combo of scouting, eye test, performance history, technology, video and stats) in baseball. They spend upwards of $20 million every year to keep it that way.

Yes, we certainly miss JV, but ironically, pushing him out the door has made him an even better pitcher……

….with an even better chance of reaching the numbers that get you easily elected to the Hall of Fame.

And let’s pray that the Tigers realize what is happening in Houston. And what they need to do.

JV finished #2 in Cy Young voting last year. What should have been #1 if not for an errant journalist’s vote. He is widely believed to be the leading candidate this year to win the award.

He also now has the ring. Something he never got in Detroit.

And if he earns pitching’s greatest award again, and an MVP, in Houston over the next 2+ years, there is a chance that he may go into the Hall wearing an Astros cap.

The Hall of Fame states that a cap is determined by where the player “made his most indelible mark.” But the rules for entrance have evolved so that the candidate’s preference is also now considered to a certain degree.

And if JV earns the same accolades that he did in Detroit, that may just tilt the chances in Houston’s favor. Especially since he got his ring (or maybe two) there.

Winning a World Series also tends to support aligning with the team you were on when it happened. Couple that with the trend that people favor their most recent employers. Great experiences tend to cloud and diminish the memories of earlier years.

Then there’s Justin’s unhappiness with certain members of the Detroit media and his statements about how the Tigers misdiagnosed his injury, costing him over 1.5 years in his career. They could factor into the equation. It’s happened before – with Jim Bunning when he insisted on going into the Hall wearing a Phillies hat despite having been with the Tigers longer and earning most of his accolades there.

It may be hard for some of us to watch Verlander pitch in a different uniform. And most of us enjoy seeing him regain his championship levels.

But none of us want to see him immortalized in baseball history wearing anything that doesn’t include the Olde English D.

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