Verlander credited a mechanical adjustment for his boost in velocity during his seven-inning, eight-strikeout shutout effort Thursday against the Mariners, Chris McCosky of The Detroit News reports. He's also ignoring his changeup.
Verlander wouldn't go into specifics of what he recently changed, but he said he watched video of how he pitched during his pre-injury seasons, and it seemed to help Thursday. "Even last start ... I knew pretty much right as soon as I started throwing that my arm felt cleaner," he said. MLB's Statcast data website, Baseball Savant, said 55 of the lanky hurler's 118 pitches came out at 95 mph or harder. He touched 98.5 mph twice and averaged 95.6 mph on his fastball, which he threw 70 times. The veteran also has thrown only 17 changeups in 525 total pitches this year and avoided the pitch altogether Thursday. Thursday's outing marked a promising sign for the ace's immediate future. Fantasy owners may have missed their window to buy low after Verlander's brief struggles, but it's still worth a try.