How Justin Verlander became best pitcher with Astros

ALCS: Why the Astros have an advantage over the Red Sox

NLCS: The Brewers avoid the end of the Dodgers rally to win the match 1

During his career in Detroit, Verlander had a 3.40 ERA, a WHIP 1.62 (number of balls and shots per round) and a strike ratio of 3.10, a solid number. Since the start of the regular season since joining the Astros, he has averaged 2.32 points, a WHIP of 0.867 and a 7.93 K: BB rating.

When asked what made the difference, Verlander laughed and said, "I do not know." He stated that he felt more consistent than this season and that he had taken a more proactive approach to tweaking and adjusting during spring training.

In an interview with For The Win in April, Verlander was a little more open, suggesting that the analysis department announced by Astros was providing useful information.

"When I came to the organization, they sort of showed what they could do and try to do," he said. "When you get older, every competitive advantage is an advantage, and I wanted it. I'm joking with the members of the organization that I was probably the first launcher to ask for more information because they can give you a lot. I want more. Give me everything you have. "

Verlander is the high-level pitcher who has shown a sudden and dramatic improvement in joining the Astros, but he is not alone. Before the speed of rotation was discussed in virtually all MLB programs, Collin McHugh became the poster when, having started his career with an 8 to 8 lead with an average of 8, 94, he joined the Houston club in 2014, learned that his curve an effective thrower of the major leagues.

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SportsPulse: Today's United States, Bob Nightengale and Ted Berg, of For the Win, tell us who they think is the favorite to win the next ALCS game between the Red Sox and Astros.
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Charlie Morton has had the best two seasons of his career since he became an Astro player before the 2017 season. Gerrit Cole, player of the second game, saw his rate of abatement increase and his WHIP drop in his first year. with the Astros in 2018. Ryan Pressly was a solid lifter in the Major League when Houston had acquired it before the trade deadline this season, and unusable thereafter.

Add it all up and you get a historically good throwing team. The 2018 Astros set a Major League Baseball record with 1,687 strikeouts for the season. Their WHIP of 1.099 is the lowest of all the clubs since the end of the baseball dead-ball era in 1920. They dominated the majors in terms of the strike rate, allowed the least hits to a club and dominated the league with a K: BB ratio. Their team, 3.11, has been one of the best in the entire AHL team since 1974.

"Our analysis team, our hospitality desk, provides excellent work of information, thoughts, ideas," said director AJ Hinch said Friday when he said: he was asked questions about the phenomenon. "(Pitching coach) Brent Strom has been a formidable pioneer in many areas with the pitching department.

"I think credit always starts with the players. Their talent is their talent. Their work ethic, open-mindedness and ability to implement are essential in this regard. "

Strom, who was out of baseball and working at his wife, Tucson, Arizona, a dog grooming company when Astros CEO Jeff Luhnow hired him before the 2014 season, was not available Friday media. In an interview with MLB.com after the 2017 Astros Championship (https://www.mlb.com/news/luhnows-hiring-of-brent-strom-a-game-changer/c-260820376), deferred credit from Strom to Luhnow, saying: "He leaves no stone unturned for information."

"It's not something where they put you in a room, push a button, and you take out a better launcher," Morton said after the Astros' training session at Fenway Park. "You are the launcher that you are with the tools you have and they give you suggestions on how to use your thing a little better."

In early May, Trevor Bauer, Indian right-handed and field law, caused a minor stir. On Twitter, he responded with a series of thinking emojis to an observation about how Astros throwers seem to consistently improve the rotational speed of their four players. fastball seam. Bauer then suggested, without saying anything, that the Houston club could gain an advantage by using a sticky substance to give more life to fastballs, citing his own research on the effect of pine tar on rotational speed . A subsequent study on CrawfishBoxes.com has shown that Astros pitchers actually benefit from higher turnover rates when they join the club.

"There is no magic dust," Morton said. "This is not what happens. I think it's a simplistic way of looking at things, saying, "Oh, they have to do something illegal or special." Why are not they doing it? Well, they have not yet figured out how you look at your hitters and how you look at your stuff, and how that fits.

"There is no philosophy established here. I think it buries the organizations. The Braves (from the late 90s and early 2000s) – thrown to the ground, two sailors down and the path, broken ball, slider. It worked. But the batters have become different; they have become more dynamic and the goals of the batters have changed – they have gone from trying to get to the base by walking or by a simple, to (try to hit) the holes or the races at home. You can change things and benefit from them. "

A closer look at the use of tone by the Astros confirms Morton's assertion: there is no obvious, global trend, but rather a series of individual adjustments that seem to yield immediate dividends. Verlander throws more low-speed balls than he did with the Tigers, and largely canceled his change. Cole throws more fastballs than he did with the Pirates and moved away from his toad. Roberto Osuna throws fewer sliders. Morton and Pressly throw more curved balls. Again and again like that.

Each Major League Baseball team employs an analysis service in 2018 and, to some extent, each team examines the same type of data that Astros use to improve their launcher. Morton noted that his 2016 club, the Phillies, had also highlighted the effectiveness of his curveball and had guided him to increased use. But nowhere, apart from Houston, the implementation of this information seems to be effective so quickly and consistently.

"I think we do it well," said Morton. "Everyone has to do their job in a championship team – from top to bottom. As a player in something like that, it's really special. It's a great place.