AL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES: YANKEES VS ASTROS

October 18, 2022

Justin Verlander

Minute Maid Park

Houston Astros

Workout Day Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: We'll start with questions for Justin Verlander.

Q. A couple days off. You're back in the postseason after two years after first game. How you feel about this first game and what are the keys for the victories for the Houston Astros to whoever they face?

JUSTIN VERLANDER: Yeah, I am excited, yes. I've been working hard to get my mechanics where I want them and kind of fix a few bad habits that have crept in. So, yeah, I'm excited to get back out there. I feel good.

To answer your question about what we need to do, I mean, pitch well, score more runs than the other team.

(Smiling.)

Q. You touched on this a little bit after your last start, just mentioned that you had identified some things that you wanted to fix. Now that you've had a few more days, is there anything else you can share with us without giving too much away?

JUSTIN VERLANDER: I don't really need to, I'm not giving anything away. I think since the calf injury, coming back hasn't been as consistent as I would like. I was on a pretty good stretch there before that.

Then you see, like Adam Wainwright, for example, he tweets out after the season that his lower body injury kind of messed with his mechanics. Even though mine wasn't severe, little tweaks to the lower half, you hear pitchers talk about it all the time, we work so hard on our legs and lower body strength because that's where we generate from.

So any little tweaks to the lower half can have major affects upstream. I'm very thankful that it wasn't a major injury and I don't think it was a big issue, but it did probably create a little bit of mechanical issues, and I've been working on that ever since I came back. I've been working really hard. I think hopefully after the last one, I really think I identified some stuff that was kind of the key component. It's just kind of deep mechanical stuff that I really probably shouldn't really go too far into. It's just we don't need to go that deep into the woods. (Laughing.)

Q. When you first saw Álvarez in 2019 when he came up here, I guess what has surprised you maybe about him in his evolution into being a complete player?

JUSTIN VERLANDER: I mean, I can't really say much has surprised me. When somebody comes up at that age and is that mature at the plate already, I think you realize how special of a talent he is. So I think when you see how high the ceiling is for someone like that, then whatever he accomplishes isn't necessarily surprising. It's impressive, but I don't think anybody's surprised by how successful or how great he is. He's been, I mean, shoot, when he first came up, he was playing on one leg, basically. His knee was all banged up and he was still that impressive at the plate.

So I think once he got that fixed and he's healed, I think this is just the player that he is. I just, I don't mean to say that, but surprising isn't the word I would use. I'm definitely impressed day-in and day-out with how great he is, but not surprised.

Q. You usually know who you're going to face a few days out. So how does the situation with this other series sort of affect your preparation for tomorrow?

JUSTIN VERLANDER: Yeah, I think it does a little bit, maybe just causes you a little more homework, but as far as like preparation for myself, it doesn't really change anything. I'm really thankful for the extra few days to continue to work on some mechanical adjustments. So I would rather have it that way than the other way.

Q. The short rest discussion is one you're familiar with from throughout your career and obviously it's a key story line in the New York and Cleveland series right now. I'm curious about in your time going on short rest how has your view of that changed, evolved, in terms of what you have to do to prepare to do it. And also the other part of it is I've always heard that command is the harder thing to do versus velocity. Would you agree with that in terms of what's most challenging on short rest?

JUSTIN VERLANDER: Well, interesting question. I've only done it once. That was 2019 postseason against Tampa Bay. I came out of the bullpen before, in Boston, in the playoffs, which I wouldn't consider short rest. I guess it was just a different thing.

But starting on short rest, I guess the thing that I felt was most impacted was my off-speed. I felt like the control and the velocity were fine. The off-speed stuff, the spin, was a little harder to kind of locate and get where you want. Also, I think, I mean, I go pitch on short rest in 2019, and my next start in regular season I blew out. I don't know if that is correlated or not. We put it all on the line, though, and it's asking a lot of your body to do that, especially when you're not used to it. It's just one of those things. We get in such a routine. Our season's so long, and as a starting pitcher, you're just like, okay, you just get embedded in your routine, and then all of a sudden you just totally shake things up. I don't think it's easy. I don't think it's easy on your body.

But under all the adrenaline and everything else, I felt remarkably normal. Looking back, though, I think my, like I said, I think my spin suffered most. To answer a possible follow-up, I don't regret it. We are here in the playoffs. This is what we, this is what you envision as a kid. You're out in your backyard, you know, playing with your dad and saying, Here we are in the last game of a series in May against the, whatever team, you're saying, Here we are in the playoffs, in the World Series, Game 7, you know, that's what you envision as a kid.

So there's only one thing to do, just go out and do it, make no excuses.

Q. Remember in spring training of 2020 when you guys were dealing with all the fallout from everything, Dusty had just been hired, and you spoke very highly of him then. Now that you've been around him for three years and you guys just came through that series and 106 wins this year, what's your general opinion of him as a manager and his ability to relate to you and the veterans, but also the younger guys, on a team that's continued to change year after year here?

JUSTIN VERLANDER: Yeah, I think you nailed it with, you know, he relates to his players. I think he takes a lot of pride in that. I think he really tries to get to know everybody individually and understand what makes them tick and try to connect with them on, more than just a manager-player-type level, and that goes a long way.

The celebration in Seattle the other day, we waited on Dusty, and he comes into the locker room and he does his thing and, you know, it makes everybody smile, makes everybody happy. He's always, I think, you know that he's always got your back, he's always rooting for the best in you, and that's all you can really ask for as a player. So I've really enjoyed getting to know him also personally in just playing for him.

Q. For those of us who never make it past the backyard playing catch with dad, can you speak to a little more of the homework? After you know the result tonight, will you dive into some film, maybe some scouting reports, is that maybe what gives you extra homework tonight?

JUSTIN VERLANDER: Yeah, of course. I mean, I think you want to know your opponent as well as possible. So, yeah, after we figure out who we're playing tonight then, yeah, I mean, it's like a cram session for a test the next day that you're probably a little late for, but you still got time to get all the answers or at least do the studying that you need. That's what it will be like.

Q. Do you worry as the playoffs keep expanding that it will become more likely for a team that maybe gets hot for a couple weeks in October will win over a team that's been great over the course of the year?

JUSTIN VERLANDER: I mean, yeah. I mean, it was a concern, but it's just one of those things that you just don't really talk about. You just don't want to think about it that way. But I think, as you see, the first round this year, I mean, some of the best teams got knocked out. It's hard to say whether that was coincidence or not.

But it's kind of a recipe to set that up because as we have seen in playoffs time and time again the hot team is really difficult to beat in general. And then so you take the best teams in the regular season, have them take off five days, which we're not used to, and then have the hot team keep playing, you play a three-game series, and then come out of that and go right into keep playing, and if you're not ready, they will -- and especially in a shortened series, I think you can see how easily you can lose that series.

I mean, we were very fortunate the first night to have a comeback like that; otherwise, we would have been in a very tough position as the best team in the American League playing a great team, no doubt, but they were hot and they came out hot. Thank goodness we were able to get it going, but if you don't, you could be in trouble.

So, I mean, I don't know how it's going to play out. I don't know if there, I don't know if the league sees what happens and maybe wants to make tweaks. I don't know what those tweaks would look like. But expanding the playoffs, it brings in a lot of revenue, so I don't think it's going to go backwards.

Q. You're on record saying you want to pitch into your 40s. What motivates you at this point? Is it games like this? Is it statistical milestones? What keeps you wanting to pitch like you do?

JUSTIN VERLANDER: I love the game. I love competing. I've always been one of those, I don't know, it's just never been a doubt in my mind. I just want to play until they rip the jersey off me. I'm not going to be out there making a fool of myself, don't get me wrong. But I just, it's just the way I've always envisioned it. You see the greats of the past, and those guys pitched into their 40s. It was never a question in my mind that if you want to be great that's what you have to do.

So I've prepared myself to do that since I started throwing a baseball. I think with that mentality, you have a long-term vision and goal, and I don't know, maybe I just manifest it. I don't know.

But I love playing. I love the competition, the one-on-one. I love being around my teammates. We have such a short window as athletes to play the game that really has defined my life up to this point, up until I got married and had my daughter. But I don't know, if I'm, when I'm done 50, 60, 70, hopefully later, I would never want to look back with regret that I didn't find out how far I could take this. I obviously was gifted to throw a baseball, you know, so why would I stop that short?

Q. Not that you're surprised about the staff and what your staff can do, but can you talk about having the complete staff, including the bullpen, that just has so much depth and the kind of talent you have?

JUSTIN VERLANDER: Yeah, I mean, it's been really impressive all season long. These guys make it easy on me as a starter, all the other starters, all the guys in the bullpen, whether it's coming out of the game a little earlier than I would like, but the guy coming in behind me is elite, or maybe I have a short start or we lose a game or whatever and then the next starter is great.

It's just been really impressive. I've been part of some really good pitching staffs, top to bottom. I think most notably the starting pitchers I've been with have been incredible on some teams, and this rivals that. I mean, I think what makes, looking back, some of the starting staffs that I was part of so impressive is what the resumes of guys that went on from that went on to do, so who knows how good some of these guys are going to end up being in a few years.

But it's just a lot of fun to watch. I would put us right up there as a starting staff against some of the best teams I've ever been a part of. And then the bullpen is, I mean, probably, if not the best, one of the best bullpens I've been a part of as well. So just really impressive. You see how hard it is to score runs against us, besides me in the first series, and that makes it a lot easier to win baseball games.