The Yankees will face the Orioles on Friday for first place in the AL East, while their closest rivals these days, the Astros, are in the basement of the AL West.
But Justin Verlander saw the Mets’ disappointment last season, when a team with high expectations and even more salary fell far short of expectations, trading away stars like Verlander and Max Scherzer. But he said he didn’t expect the same outcome. In Houston.
“You can see the accomplishments of the same group of players that are here,” Verlander said of the Astros’ string of successes, which have traveled to the ALCS every year since 2017. “The Mets didn’t have that kind of track record. They were good last year. [in 2022], but not for seven consecutive years. If you’re looking for reasons to be more hopeful than last year, that’s one thing I can point to. If anyone can do it, so can we. ”
But the Astros are the same team that has dominated the American League for most of the past decade, except for the fact that Jose Altuve is still playing well and is the player Yankees fans hate as one of their last team. are not similar at all. The remaining members of the scandal-plagued 2017 World Series championship team.
Among the problems is the pitching staff, which opened Thursday with the third-worst ERA, second-worst WHIP and worst WAR in the majors, according to FanGraphs.
They’ve dealt with a poor bullpen performance, an injury-plagued rotation, and even Verlander got beat up around Tuesday, allowing seven runs and three home runs in one of his ugliest performances in years.
“We’re in the thick of it right now,” the right-handed pitcher said before the Astros’ 4-3 sweep victory over the Yankees on Thursday night in the Bronx. “We have to fight it. We have great players here, but we have to put it together on the field.”
Despite the bad month, Verlander said he has no intention of repeating last year’s trade deadline that sent him to Houston.
“We’re optimistic here and believe we can turn it around,” Verlander said. “We had the same attitude last year.” [with the Mets].That didn’t change until Steve came along. [Cohen] We decided to go in a different direction. That kind of thing is above my pay grade, but I didn’t start paying attention to all of that until the dominoes started falling last year. ”
And he also notices that the Yankees look like a more formidable opponent than they were in 2023, when they missed the postseason. He got his first glimpse of the new offense this week.
“They told me I’m not fully back yet,” said Verlander, who has started four games since missing the beginning of the season with shoulder inflammation.
“But, you know, baseball is great when the Yankees are playing well,” he said. “It’s no secret how great additions are [Juan] Soto with him [Aaron] Judge, you have two of the best hitters in baseball, so it’s hard to navigate. ”
Verlander also noted how the Yankees’ rotation has endured the absence of Gerrit Cole, who is out rehabbing from elbow inflammation.
“It was impressive to see how young players and players who have been around for a while rose to the challenge,” Coach Verlander said. “It takes a lot of different players to win, and that’s what we’re trying to get back to.”
