NEW YORK — New beginnings on one side and a milestone on the other! During the Mets-Tigers series finale on Thursday afternoon at Comerica Park — Justin Verlander embarked on new ventures, making his debut in orange and blue, while Detroit’s Eduardo Rodríguez achieved his 1,000th career strikeout.
Rodríguez, 30, born in Valencia, Venezuela, became the 11th Venezuelan-native in MLB history to throw for 1,000 career strikeouts. He now joins Johan Santana and Wilson Álvarez as the only Venezuelan left-handers to accomplish the feat.
1,000th career strikeout for E-Rod
Full gas ⛽️ #RepDetroit pic.twitter.com/MvLdR2Ojcp
— Bally Sports Detroit (@BallySportsDET) May 4, 2023
“It means a lot,” Rodríguez said about the milestone. “It means I’ve been in baseball for a longtime to get to 1,000. So, I’m really happy with that one. I’m really happy to get to one thousand strikeouts. Something I wanted to accomplish in my career, so I’m really happy about that.”
Rodríguez struck out nine Mets batters across eight shutout innings in the Tigers 2-0 victory, marking his third outing of 2023 with no runs allowed. He has posted a 1.81 ERA in seven starts (44.2 IP) with 39 strikeouts this season.
“My mindset out there is to go out there and always put up zeros,” Rodríguez said. “I always think it’s a 0-0 game every time I’m out on the mound.”
On the visiting side for New York, Verlander, who turned 40 this past February, signing a two-year/$86.6 million deal with the Mets, began his afternoon with a warm welcome from Detroit faithful.
Justin Verlander receives a warm welcome in Detroit as he takes the mound for his 2023 debut with the Mets💙@FlippinBatsPod
(via @SNYtv) pic.twitter.com/HwCY2kRCSw
— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) May 4, 2023
The future Hall of Famer and reigning American League Cy Young award winner started his MLB career with the Tigers (2005-2017), and appeared in two World Series during his Detroit tenure — posting a 183-114 record with a 3.49 ERA and 2,373 strikeouts in 380 outings.
Nonetheless, Thursday marked a new beginning for Verlander as he took the mound for the first time with New York across his chest.
To start off, his first inning was a challenge — Verlander allowed back-to-back home runs off Tigers Riley Greene and Javier Báez (2016 National League Latino MVP).
Riley. Javy.
BACK. TO. BACK. pic.twitter.com/bULeWPT3LP
— Detroit Tigers (@tigers) May 4, 2023
“It’s spring training for him again right now,” a longtime scout explained about Verlander. “He is a seasoned pro, who is Hall of Fame caliber.”
“The two pitches were a hanging curve and fastball down the middle — Those are first game mistakes you get away with, when hitters have not seen pitchers at 100% yet. Batters are now better adjusted with travel and seeing more quality pitches a month into the season.”
Rightfully so. Verlander was put on the injured list on March 30th due to a low grade teres major strain in his right shoulder. The Mets will need him and Max Scherzer to be as effective and healthy as possible in leading the organization out of their current 16-16 record (third place in NL East division).
Max Scherzer – Image Credit: Emma Sharon/Latino Sports
On a similar note, the adjustments and development into a 162-game season comes different for each and every pitcher out there. Especially those who are as methodical as Verlander and Scherzer.
The longtime scout also mentioned: “Mets are looking at a lot of back-to-back wins, nearly 80% of the time — when him and Scherzer are out there.”
However, Wednesday and Thursday defeated those odds as the Mets were swept by the Tigers in Detroit with their two-top aces and Joey Lucchesi out on the bump.
Be that as it may, Verlander was able to settle in and commanded the strike zone following the first inning obstacles, finishing with a line of five hits, one walk and five strikeouts across five innings. Additionally, he tossed 79 pitches, 52 for strikes.
Justin Verlander's 2Ks in the 5th.
5Ks thru 5 pic.twitter.com/hFbnNwfQU1
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) May 4, 2023
“Everything felt good, no issues physically,” Verlander said. “Felt like as the game went along, the velocity started to come a little bit too. So physically, overall it was a good day.”
Robert Rizzo is a journalist and co-editor of Latino Sports – Email: RobertRiz994@gmail.com
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