‘Absolute animal’
Young Blue Jays pitchers could learn from Justin Verlander and his no-hit magic
ATLANTA — On any given day of this trying Blue Jays season, Pete Walker can be alternately the busiest and most focused man in his team’s dugout.
But the deeper Houston Astros starter Justin Verlander went toward history on Sunday afternoon at the Rogers Centre, the more the Jays pitching coach took notice and admired what was going down. Quite simply, it was impossible not to.
So what was Walker’s impression, in between managing a notably impressive performance by his own staff, one that shut out the high-powered Astros up until the fateful ninth inning?
“You see a guy who doesn’t necessarily use his best fastball early in the game,” Walker said prior to Monday’s Jays-Braves game at sunny and spectacular SunTrust Park. “He seems to save his velocity for late when he needs it the most.
“He just pitches. He locates his fastball as good as anybody I’ve seen. He’s got secondary stuff he can use at any time now and his slider is as sharp as I’ve ever seen it.”
All intimidating and impressive stuff, of course.
With Sunday being a getaway day for both the Jays and the Astros, Walker caught up with Verlander at Pearson International Airport to congratulate him on the effort. And the more it sunk in, the more the former big-league pitcher paid attention.
At age 36, Verlander is clearly one of the best and most competitive pitchers in the game, a factor that only adds to the sense of accomplishment on the occasion of his third career no-no.
“I don’t know how he does it, to be honest with you, at his age,” said Walker, who has spent too much of this season without one high-end starter, let alone one of the best in the game. “It’s pretty amazing. He’s an absolute animal on the mound. As a hitter you’ve got to know he’s coming after you.”
While the game itself was unfolding, Walker was impressed with his own crew’s role in what truly was an intriguing pitching duel. Opener Wilmer
“I don’t know how he does it, to be honest with you, at his age, It’s pretty amazing. He’s an absolute animal on the mound. As a hitter you’ve got to know he’s coming after you.” Toronto Blue Jays’ pitching coach Pete Walker
Font (two innings), Sam Gaviglio (three) and Zack Godley (three) combined to pitch eight innings of three-hit shutout ball.
Only closer Ken Giles was dinged, giving up the two-run homer in the top of the ninth to Canadian Abraham Toro.
“Obviously, as a pitching coach, I was focused on our guys and the job that they were doing,” Walker said. “I thought they did a fantastic job staying in that game and really pitched their butts off.
“It wasn’t until the fifth or sixth inning that I really noticed that we hadn’t had a hit. From that point forward, you can’t help but think that with a guy like (Verlander) on the mound, you never know.
“Given that he seems to get stronger the deeper a game goes when he’s pitching, he’s certainly capable of (tossing a no-hitter.)”
While there’s no positive in seeing your team stymied in any game — especially a group of young Jays hitters who aren’t intimidated by facing high-end arms — Walker believes Sunday’s Verlander masterpiece provided learning opportunities both for Toronto hitters and pitchers.
“It was a special moment for him and for their team,” Walker said. “It’s baseball at its best when pitchers can do those kinds of things. I think even our pitchers were marvelling at him a little bit, watching him work
and taking a notice to how he handled things, especially handling those final outs.”
The bottom line is there’s plenty to be admired with Verlander, who is having one of the best seasons in a career from which there are many to choose. He’s certainly a big reason why the Astros are the best bet in the minds of many to repeat the World Series title they captured in 2017.
“I think his teammates and, certainly (the rest of the rotation), feed off of that,” Walker said of Verlander’s influence in the Astros clubhouse. “He makes their staff better. It raises their game, having a guy like that for sure. I think they want to one-up each other. That’s such a great competitive atmosphere to have for a starting rotation.”