Morning Briefing: Justin Verlander Dabbling With Changeup

Photo by Ed Delany of Metsmerized

Good morning, Mets fans!

On Friday, Will Sammon of The Athletic released an article about Justin Verlander and how he is still attempting to introduce a changeup into his repertoire at this stage of his career. Verlander credited a 2019 meeting with Nolan Ryan as inspiring him to use the pitch more often, which he did before his injuries that caused him to miss virtually all of the 2020 and 2021 seasons.

In 2022, however, Verlander reverted to using the changeup just 2% of the time. Now 40, Verlander understands that throwing the changeup more often will likely increase his longevity in the league as it did for Ryan, so Sammon suggests we may see him throw the pitch more often in his first spring training start today, or he might just stick to what made him the 2022 AL Cy Young Award winner.

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