Justin Verlander, tell batters the pitch ... at least for an inning ... in spring training.

Justin Verlander may be as close to the perfect person to, if not put the sign stealing issue to rest, at least firmly put it into perspective. It's likely that whatever "edge" a cheating team may get, it's far from a sure thing and the advantage in most instances is marginal.

It occurred to me that Justin Verlander may be itching to do this, to restore some credibility to the only World Series championship he's won in his Hall of Fame career: 2017 over the Dodgers by way of the Yankees. Verlander in four WS:
2006 Cardinals 0-2, 5.73 ERA, 2 HR (Rolen, Albert Pujols game 1)
2012 Giants 0-1, 11.25 ERA, 2 HR (Sandoval 2 of 3, game 1)
2017 Dodgers 0-1 in 2 starts, 3.75 ERA, 2 HR (Pederson, Seager game 2)
2019 Nationals 0-2, 5.73 ERA, 3 HR (Suzuki game 1, Eaton, Soto game 6)

February 20, Verlander turns 37. He's won the Cy Young award twice:
2011 with Detroit; also AL MVP
2019 with Houston: led in wins, starts, innings, WHIP, SO/W (300/42)

At 6'5" Verlander is a stud. Confident. Arrogant.

So, come on. Tell some batters what pitch you are going to throw. Maybe let the batter request the pitch, just not all fastballs.

Imagine Verlander doing this on his own opening day. He goes to the opposing dugout before taking the mound and respectfully tells them that he will reveal the pitch until he indicates that he will stop. If the first two batters get hits he may want to stop. But if he's retiring batters, Verlander may continue, not to taunt the opposition but to make a point and implicitly defend his teammates: Altuve, Bregman, Correa, Springer. In 2017 Altuve had OPS .250 (30%) higher on the road, where Houston players were not stealing signs.

If doing this in the regular season seems impractical, then late in spring training when batters are ready.

Who wouldn't want to see this?

Showing posts with label Signs.

June 7, 2004: Drafted by the Detroit Tigers in the 1st round (2nd pick) of the 2004 amateur draft. Player signed October 25, 2004.

August 31, 2017: Traded by the Detroit Tigers with a player to be named later and cash to the Houston Astros for Daz Cameron (minors), Franklin Perez (minors) and Jake Rogers. The Detroit Tigers sent Juan Ramirez (minors) (October 13, 2017) to the Houston Astros to complete the trade.