A few questions were brought to my attention following another dominant performance by Justin Verlander last night: Why does it matter if his wins come after a win or loss? Would he approach the game any differently? Do the wins mean more?
The first question is easy to answer, mostly because his winning after the Tigers lose helps put at ease the common fans fears that during this second half run, any signs of a collapse doesn't stop the bleeding if he goes and loses. It's just one game, right? Except that without Verlander, especially lately, the Tigers record is below .500. As far as his approach, most of us realize that Verlander is a fierce competitor and he's going to go pitch when it's his turn the same way he would no matter what the Tigers did the game before. But since it's happened so often this season, we have to take notice, and it has shown that it's rather meaningful since he's now 14-3 in games pitched this season following a Tigers loss.
And I'll concede to some MVP talk too, in addition to the Cy Young award he's almost certain to have won already. I have said that the MVP award should be given to a position player, mostly since they can't win the Cy Young. But when you talk about who you give that award to, players are brought up by not only their numbers, but on their team's successes too. And with those 14 wins after Tigers losses, his 18 wins up to this point, there's not another player that is more important to his team's success than Justin Verlander. Yes, he's not an everyday player. But it's impossible to believe that the Tigers would be in first place right now without his services. The rest of the rotation hasn't been very consistent, and never mind how badly inconsistent the Tigers bullpen has been this season. As far as the award goes, there isn't a clear cut runaway at this point of the season from any team (that includes Adrian Gonzalez, Red Sox fans: he's SUPPOSED to put up those numbers, his contract says so), so it's hard for me to even fathom anyone taking votes away from Verlander.
In the end, whether or not he goes out there one way or another, Verlander shows up and does what he's supposed to do: win games. The dominance he brings is just a very welcome bonus.
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We all got a bit of a jolt when news of Dombrowski making a trade within the division (again) happened again on Monday, when he traded a couple of minor league pitchers to the Twins for former number 1 overall draft pick Delmon Young. At the time of the trade, Delmon was hitting .266 with only 4 HR, and also brings with him very suspect defense out in left field. The true definition of an underachiever, right? Well, his first game was a relative success, as he homered in his first plate appearance vs his former team and made a nice running catch in left. I can only hope the change in scenery will do him some good, perhaps rejuvenate his desire to play up to his potential, especially now that he's back in a pennant chase. He's still only 25 years old, and it's hard to give up on a guy like that but the Twins (and their fan base) had finally had enough.
Of course, with a couple of the trades DD has made, it might have improved our offense, but if you downgrade an already suspect defensive unit, it may make for a few frustrating games down the stretch. As usual, I hope I'm wrong here.
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