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Astros starter Justin Verlander looks out of the dugout before a game against the Tigers at Minute Maid Park in Houston (Photo: Troy Taormina, USA TODAY Sports) [19659004] HOUSTON – It's going to be different, Justin Verlander knows it. But how much he will not know until he takes the mound at Minute Maid Park for the 406th start of his major league career on Sunday afternoon.
There, he will watch the batters wearing one of two uniforms The Detroit Tigers have radically changed course by swapping their local franchise player title.
"I think that once I get there, things will go on as usual," he said Friday afternoon. "But right now I can say that I feel a little different about it, I know these guys so well – a lot of them – and I keep texting with a bunch of guys, so this It's not something I normally do with the teams I'm going to go to – I probably have a little more nerves on Sunday morning than maybe for a typical regular season start, but as I'm I said, once you get on the mound, the match is over. "
This is not good news for the Tigers or their fans, many of whom have not yet including Verlander's show for the Houston Astros.
A lot has changed since the last exchange that sent Verlander on the last day of August last season.He went to the Astros, dominated, won a World Series championship and then jumped on a private jet in Italy, where he married model Ka Upton.
"It's crazy how things can happen quickly," he says. It has happened so much since the trade and everything happened so fast that I am a married man with a World Series ring and an alliance. "
Other changes will happen: Upton announced on her Instagram account Saturday morning that she is pregnant with the couple's first child
But the more things change, the more they stay the same : Verlander does with the Astros what he's been doing for the majority of his decade – plus tenure with the Tigers: posts quality numbers Cy Young from the American League This season he's 9-4 with a 2.05 ERA and a score of .83 in 20 starts and was named to his seventh team of stars. play in the game on Tuesday.)
For all the publicity. Like the analytical impact of the Astros on his instant success last season, Verlander had long been back in shape – he only made one significant change in pitching selection – throwing most of the time fast balls of four -couture as opposed to two-stitching.He said that he thought that Visibility of the throws in the playoffs was the biggest reason for this advertisement.
"It was a lot easier to notice when I got here because we had a championship playoff team." "There have been a few things that I've changed, but I know it's been a lot of publicity because of the analysis here and that's what made me go back to Cy Young, but I was already there. I understood it in Detroit. "
Verlander will still be synonymous with Detroit and it's the link shared with the fans out there that he attributes as the most difficult part of giving up his non-exchange clause to accept the # "Really, I'm worried about the reaction of the fans," he said. "I think for a pure baseball decision, I think it was a pretty clear cut , "Yes," if you just thought about baseball. "But when you think what I started in Detroit and the relationship I had created with the fans out there, all that matters to me And you've seen horror stories about the fact that some athletes who were well known in the cities bowed badly and that was not well seen by their fans and I did not want to do that to the Detroit fans, I wanted to leave on a good note and not leave a bitter taste in their mouth and I think everyone understood that the organi The situation was going in a different direction and I desperately wanted to win a World Series and the opportunity would not be Detroit at that time.
Verlander said that he still follows the way the Tigers are doing.On Thursday night he shared a dinner with former teammates
"I'm always careful, he said. "I did not disconnect them on social networks, so I get updates. I mean, look, Detroit is always going to have a place in my heart and I'm still rooting for this organization, so I keep following them to see what happens. "
Contact Anthony Fenech: afenech @ freepress.com Follow him on Twitter @anthonyfenech
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