SAN FRANCISCO -- During a Zoom call with reporters on Monday morning, Justin Verlander mentioned that he already is up to 92 mph as he prepares for his first spring training with the Giants. For someone who regularly hit triple digits earlier in his career, that wouldn't seem like that big of a deal, but Verlander was thrilled. It's a major step, he said, just to be throwing off a mound this time of year.
Verlander made just 17 starts for the Houston Astros a year ago and will try to bounce back in San Francisco as a 42-year-old, but when asked about his health Monday, he was all positive. He said last year taught him a lot of lessons, including the fact that he needs to adjust now that he's on the other side of 40. As he prepares for his 20th season, Verlander has dramatically altered his offseason throwing program.
"For the first time in my career, I have not put down a ball," he said. "I kept throwing all offseason and that was to help the shoulder issue that I had (last year). It was totally avoidable. It was my fault. I've always been somebody who, I set the ball down and I don't pick it up again for a few months, and then I've always been very lucky that I just pick it up and start throwing. Well, at 41 that caught up with me. That was an adjustment I made that I feel like is paying big dividends already."
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Verlander started last season on the IL with shoulder inflammation and missed two months in the middle of the summer with a neck injury. The shoulder concerns were what led him to change his offseason program, and he said Monday that he's "miles ahead" of where he was last January and now is trying to make sure he doesn't overdo it before his first camp with the Giants begins.
As for the neck injury, Verlander had known for some time that there was an issue, but he was able to pitch through it. Actually missing time last year forced him to strengthen the area in general.
"It notified me that there was a problem there and as I've been addressing that I noticed a lot of significant other beneficial changes in my body that have led to better mechanics and I think my throwing is really benefiting from all these adjustments that I'm making," he said. "I feel great. I'm really just trying to continue on the path that I've been on."
While last year was a difficult one, Verlander made 27 starts the season before and 28 in 2022, when he came back from Tommy John surgery and won his third Cy Young Award. The Giants have enough young depth to cover for any missed time, but president of baseball operations Buster Posey is hopeful that won't be necessary.
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Asked why he is so confident in a player who will turn 42 during spring training, Posey pointed to Verlander's track record of bouncing back, as well as the confidence of Dave Groeschner's medical staff and pitching coach J.P. Martinez.
"I'd say also, being on the phone with him and hearing his excitement," Posey said. "I really felt he was being very honest with how good he felt his body was at this point of the year."