VLOG: THE JUSTIN STEELE SHOW

I wish Narco was the background music.

Hello Viewers and Non-Viewers! Finally back to back good videos. I hadn’t heard of Justin Steele until recently. But I looked at his stats and said holy shit, he’s Edwin Diaz opposite twin. So I obviously had to jump on a video about him, comparing him to Diaz. This Steele kid could win a Cy Young for real tho, keep an eye on his stats.

Thanks for reading! Be sure to follow or subscribe to the blog. Check out the social media page.

Thanks to Baseball Reference and Baseball Savant for the charts and statistics! 

Free Agent Spotlight: Justin Verlander

At 39 years old, with 3 Cy Youngs, MVP, Triple Crown, Nine time All Star, and 2 time World Series Champion, Justin Verlander is still married to Kate Upton. On top of all that, Verlander came off Tommy John surgery that saw him miss the entire 2021 season. His latest Cy Young comes on November 16th of 2022. Verlander has been first in every category that matters for a pitcher. He holds numerous records. With 17 years of MLB experience, it seems like Verlander is an ageless wonder as he keeps getting better. Verlander was a free agent, fresh off his Cy Young and World Series victory. The conclusion of this article is foregone because what team doesn’t want a 40 year old Verlander with his laundry list of accomplishments. 

Just fun I guess let’s look at his stats throughout his successful long career:

Verlander has a load of great seasons, it’s hard to pick just one. So let’s focus on very bottom in his career totals. Throughout the course of his career he’s maintained a 132 ERA+, a 1.117 WHIP, a 3.36 FIP, less than one HR per 9, and over 9 strikeouts per 9 innings. A season like this alone would be worth a lot. You might be wondering how Verlander does it for nearly every season. What kind of pitches does he throw? How effective are those pitches? Well the answer is obviously whatever he’s doing is working. He throws six pitches: Fastball, Slider, Curveball, Changeup, Cutter, Sinker. In 2022 he only threw 4 of those: fastball, slider, curveball and changeup. To get an idea about which pitches he relies on most and are most effective, let’s take a look at this baseball savant chart involving run value:

Verlander has always been a fastball pitcher. It is easy to see why he throws the fastball because it sets up his other pitches. You can tell by the put away percent and hard hit percent differences. Pitches other than his fastball have lower hard hit percentages and higer put away percentages. Also notably higher K% which Verlander has 3,198 strikeouts in his career. A tell tale sign of a great pitcher is the amount of movement and spin on his pitches. Verlander is tops in the league in these categories especially with his fastball: 

As you can tell, his fastball movement and spin are really great. The same is true with his curveball. The curve was one of his best put away pitches, all set up by the fastball. With Verlander, you know his sequencing based on what his pitches do and the amount. He uses a fastball to set you up for the slider mostly or the curve. If those don’t work sometimes he throws a changeup. The sliders from baseball savant will paint an overall picture of just how good Verlander is to the rest of the league. Verlander recently said or rather his agent said he was seeking a 3 year- 130 million dollar deal. Similar to what Max Schrezer signed with the New York Mets. (3 years 43 million per year). Schrezer is just one year younger than Verlander. It’s probably a sensible ask from Verlander although you have to wonder if teams will be hesitant to give him that 3rd year. However, I think he will get closer to 50 million per year. It’s easy to say that Verlander has earned a huge contract. Statcast Sliders below: 

Update: Justin Verlander agreed to a 2 year 86 million dollar deal with a third year option with the New York Mets.

Thanks for reading. Be sure to follow and subscribe to the blog. Also check out my social media page.

Thanks to Baseball Reference and Baseball Savant for the statistics and charts.