Justin Verlander working hard to put things on right track - MLB Detroit Tigers News
Justin Verlander has looked his old self since the start of 2012 Major League Baseball regular season. The right hander made history the past season when he struck out 250 with an impressive 2.40 ERA. With a superb 24-5 win-loss record, he
went on to win the American League Most Valuable Player Award and the Pitching Triple Crown Award. Not many pitchers have accomplished such a feat in history of the game.
Verlander’s success is mainly down to his hard work and dedication towards his duties. He is one of those players who will show up for the training session earlier than anyone else. However, above all, he is extremely down to earth which
allows him to play his natural game freely even in pressure situations. His contributions in Tigers’ American League winning campaign past year will never be forgotten.
The number may not be the same this year but everything else is still there for Verlander. His accuracy and high speed fast balls has created all sorts of problems for the batters. Tigers’ manager Jim Leyland knows that his starting pitcher
loves to deal with challenges. Additionally, Verlander is dealing with reputations standards of all sorts on the peak of his career.
"What's not the same?" Verlander said in an interview. "Everything's a little bit higher, but it's pretty d**n close. What are you holding me to, the best year of my career?"
"I don't think there are any secrets, it's the way I was made," Verlander said. "It's funny, back in '08 and '09, I started noticing that when I threw more, I threw better. If I threw 95 pitches, I didn't feel great. If I threw 120, I felt
great. I told Skip that."
In some ways Verlander has set high standards for himself and some of the youngsters in the team. Drew Smyly and Doug Fister have a lot to learn from his experience to become successful in future. Right now, Verlander is 6-4 with a decent
2.66 ERA and it will be interesting to see if he can improve these numbers as the season enters the second half.
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