TUESDAY, MAY 17 , 2022. THE WASHINGTON POST EZ M2 D3
more victories and a better win-
ning percentage. The Cincinnati
Reds, the laughingstock of April
and May, are at 0.3 percent, per-
haps a nod to the National League
East being a tougher division
than the NL Central.BY CHELSEA JANESElite starting pitchers do not
plan to mellow with age. Their
competitive angst is their com-
petitive edge, and their obsession
is an asset. The passing of time
brings perspective, and perspec-
tive has the power to loosen
resolve.
But 39-year-old Houston As-
tros ace Justin Verlander seems
perfectly comfortable admitting
the rare fury he once relied on no
longer defines him. He needed it
then. He doesn’t need it now, not
after undergoing Tommy John
surgery at 37, when most starters
would be counting down to re-
tirement rather than willingly
embarking on an 18-month re-
covery process. He isn’t con-
sumed by it now, with a young
daughter at home and the benefit
of a year away to remind him
what baseball costs those who
master it.
“It was always baseball, base-
ball, baseball for the longest
time,” Verlander said. “I still put
in all the same amount of work
and intensity, but I think maybe
just like having the game almost
taken away from me, enjoying my
life outside of baseball with my
daughter and my family, then
coming back to it — I’ve just got
this new side of me.”
So far, that new side is less
apparent to opposing hitters
than they would probably prefer.
In his first seven starts of the
2022 season — his first seven
starts since July 2020 — Verland-
er is pitching to a 1.38 ERA.
He nearly no-hit the Minne-
sota Twins this month, the best
performance in what became an
11-game Astros winning streak
during which the team allowed
10 earned runs. Yet the big news
in the Astros’ clubhouse that day
was not that Verlander nearly
become the third pitcher in ma-
jor league history with four no-
hitters to his name. It was that he
had made a joke in the middle of
that outing — a surprise because
Verlander never allowed much
interaction with teammates
d uring starts, let alone humor.
“I never would have done that
before. I think that just kind of
comes from enjoying it in the
moment more,” he said. “I’ve
always enjoyed it. I love competi-
tion, but so much so that I was
blinded by it.”
After the Washington Nation-als snapped that winning streak
with a 13-run outburst Saturday,
it fell to Verlander to secure a
series win for the Astros, who
began Sunday tied for first in the
American League West with the
suddenly potent Los Angeles An-
gels. He worked around a 30-
pitch first inning to hold the
Nationals hitless into the fifth as
Houston secured an 8-0 win. He
ended Sunday tied for fourth in
the majors with 452 / 3 innings
pitched, seemingly uninhibited
by the fact that he is coming off
the kind of surgery that forces
much younger pitchers to limit
their workloads.
“I wouldn’t say I’m surprised. I
would say I’m pleased,” Verland-
er said of his early success. “If I
were surprised, all the hard work
I did, what was I doing that for?
But it’s nice when you put in that
much work to see the results and
see the results immediately.”
Verlander paused and
knocked on the wooden locker in
the visitors’ clubhouse.
“I don’t know how long it will
continue,” he added. “But if I
could draw it up, work hard and
come out of the gate strong, that’s
how I would draw it up.”No one in baseball would have
blamed Verlander if he came
back a slightly lesser version of
himself — if he didn’t average
nearly 95 mph on his fastball as
he did 15 years ago, if he couldn’t
handle the same innings load
early in the season as he may
have a decade ago. But Verlander
would have blamed himself.
In fact, he does blame himself
for some of the areas in which he
has “struggled” this season —
namely that he is not getting
nearly as many swings and miss-
es as he did in his prime. Enter-
ing Sunday’s start, hitters were
swinging and missing on just 14.7
percent of his fastballs, less than
half the rate at which they were
whiffing in his Cy Young Award-
winning 2019 season. That year,
Verlander struck out more than
12 batters per nine innings
pitched. This year he is striking
out eight batters per nine in-
nings. Verlander said he is work-
ing “on the swing-and-miss stuff”
and emphasized that whatever
satisfaction he has with his re-
sults so far, it isn’t enough that he
is content to be less than he
believes he should be.
This is Verlander at 39 —unsatisfied but unburdened by
the all-consuming emotional in-
vestment the game once re-
quired. He still wears his big
headphones on start days to shut
out teammates and reporters. He
spent the hours before Sunday’s
warmups hunched over a com-
puter in the video room, chewing
on a blue pen he occasionally
used to take notes, sipping on
coffee and internalizing a game
plan.
But when Astros catcher Mar-
tín Maldonado had a question
about his wine preferences, Ver-
lander pulled off one earphone
and responded. He never would
have done that in the past, not
after a bad season in 2008 left
him fuming one morning during
an equally disappointing spring
in 2009. He carried the anger
into a start against the New York
Yankees and something clicked.
“That’s when I started full
headphones, don’t talk to any-
body, like, ‘Don’t bother me; I’ve
got a f---ing job to do.’ And I still
do that,” Verlander said. “Now it’s
less angry and more my routine.
I’m not as angry at the world,
fuming, get the [heck] out of my
way all day. Now it’s just mereminding my body, ‘Hey, today is
work day.’ ”
Dusty Baker has managed
plenty of Hall of Fame starters
with distinct pregame habits,
from Greg Maddux to Max Scher-
zer. Asked about Verlander, Bak-
er struggled to explain what
differed.
“They’re all different, but
there are a lot of similarities,”
Baker said. “Highly competitive.
Very studious. They really con-
centrate on doing their home-
work.”
Verlander said he didn’t do as
much homework before. Early in
his career, he didn’t seek out the
data that is so prevalent now, in
part because most of it wasn’t as
readily available. Looking back,
he said, he regrets it. Maybe he
could have been even better.
A few seconds later, he
changed his mind.
“Maybe I don’t regret it,” Ver-
lander said, realizing as he spoke
that part of what helps him put
the numbers to work now are the
instincts he developed when he
was young and had to think his
way through things.
“The first 10 years of my ca-
reer, it was just watch video, see
swings, read swings, react — this
dance between me and the hitter.
That doesn’t happen as often
nowadays. But I think it’ll be-
come more en vogue again.
You’re seeing guys work on feel
more again. I mean, the great
guys always do.”
Verlander purposely didn’t
watch the Astros during the 2021
season until they made it to
October. He didn’t need to be
immersed in competition as he
would have in his younger years.
Even his hours on the golf course
were less peppered with frustra-
tion than they used to be, more
fun than frenetic. Now, he says,
he would love to somehow climb
from his current total of 231 wins
and reach that coveted 300 mark,
though he knows time is working
against him and losing nearly
two full seasons to injury didn’t
help.
“But I don’t need a big shiny
medal at the end of the race to
keep running,” Verlander said.
“I’m just running because I enjoy
running.”
“Well, sprinting,” he corrected
himself. After all, just because he
appreciates the chance to race
more now doesn’t mean he can’t
win.Unburdened Verlander is as sharp as everAt 39 and coming off Tommy John surgery, the Astros’ never-satisfied (but newly gratified) ace is in vintage formNICK WASS/ASSOCIATED PRESS
Justin Verlander has a 1.38 ERA in seven starts this season after being sidelined for nearly two years.ASSOCIATED PRESSWhen the New York Islanders
fired coach Barry Trotz, General
Manager Lou Lamoriello said he
believed the team needed a new
voice.
That new voice is coming from
the old coaching staff.
The Islanders on Monday
named Lane Lambert as Trotz’s
replacement, giving his longtime
assistant his first head coaching
job in the NHL. It took just a week
from the decision to move on from
Trotz with one year left on his
contract for the team to conclude
that Lambert was the right choice
to succeed him.
“There is without question a
new voice,” Lamoriello said dur-
ing a virtual news conference.
“That new voice is here with Lane,
and certainly Lane has different
thoughts on different things.”
Trotz was fired last week after
the Islanders missed the playoffs
for the first time in his four sea-
sons behind the bench, a disap-
pointing turn of events chalked
up to opening with a 13-game
road trip and getting hit with a
string of coronavirus absences
and injuries.
Lamoriello said a major reason
for this move was a stretch in
January when Lambert took over
coaching duties from Trotz, who
took a leave of absence to deal
with a family matter, and showed
his leadership skills.
“When he got the opportunity
or was put in that role, he had no
questions in his mind as far as his
decision-making, no insecurities
in the conversations I had with
him, and the homework he did
prior to making some of the deci-
sions that were put upon him,” the
79-year-old executive said. “He
was totally comfortable in his own
skin to make decisions that had to
be made no matter where we are
and no matter what game it was.”
Lambert, 57, had worked on
Trotz’s staff the past 11 years with
Nashville, Washington and New
York. He has a Stanley Cup ring
from the Capitals’ title run in
2018, after which Trotz resigned
amid a contract dispute and
joined the Islanders.
l GOLDEN KNIGHTS: Vegas
fired coach Peter DeBoer in the
aftermath of missing the playoffs
for the first time in its five-year
franchise history.
GM Kelly McCrimmon t hanked
DeBoer for his work with the
organization but also said the
Golden Knights were looking for a
fresh voice roughly four months
before training camp opens.
“The decision was made based
on next year; the decision was not
based on last year,” McCrimmon
said during a news conference to
discuss the firing. “I’m not going
to be critical of Pete or point out
specifics as to why this decision
was made. I’ve got a lot of respect
for Pete as a man; I’ve got a lot of
respect for him as a coach. These
decisions are made for the future.”
McCrimmon said he met with
DeBoer numerous times and had
further discussions with George
McPhee, president of hockey op-
erations, and eventually team
owner Bill Foley.
“I really felt as the season
wound down you can feel the
fatigue that had gathered over
time,” McCrimmon said. “... We
missed the playoffs, which is
humbling for a team no matter
what the reasons were for how
that happened. And I think what
[the offseason is] going to give us
is an opportunity in the fall to be
incredibly rested, rehabbed, re-
charged, excited. When we went
through it, I felt that we could
enhance that by having a new
voice leading our team into next
season.”
Vegas failed to qualify for the
playoffs after a barrage of injuries
compounded by salary cap prob-
lems wreaked havoc on the line-
up, most notably in goal. The
Golden Knights at one point were
first in the Pacific Division but
after 82 games found themselves
three points behind the final wild-
card spot in the Western Confer-
ence.
l PREDATORS: N ashville
signed Yaroslav Askarov to a
three-year entry level contract,
two years after making him the
sixth Russian-born goalie taken in
the NHL draft’s first round at
No. 11 overall.
The 19-year-old spent most of
the 2021 -22 season with the
s econd-tier VHL’s Neva Saint
P etersburg in his native country,
posting a 5-2-2 record with a 2.57
goals against average. Askarov
also appeared six times for SKA
Saint Petersburg in the Kontinen-
tal Hockey League with a 1.81 GAA
and a .913 save percentage.
NHL NOTES
Islanders
make Trotz
assistant
their coach
ripped straight at him in the third.Soto struggles
How did Soto fare against Al-
cantara? Pop fly to third, ground-
out to third, groundout to the
pitcher and f lyout to center. After
the third result, a dribbler
straight back to Alcantara, Soto
carried his bat halfway up the line
and slammed it down in frustra-
tion. He entered the night with
good numbers against the
2 6-year-old righty: 8 for 23 with
two homers. But Alcantara
pounded Soto outside, something
Soto usually likes, to record all
four of the outs. Soto has an
on-base-plus-slugging percent-
age of .865 and continues to strug-
gle with men on base.
“I’ve been seeing a lot of pitches
in the strike zone, and I come and
face a guy that didn’t throw me
that many strikes,” Soto said. “I
kept swinging at them. It wasn’t a
good idea.”Slim playoff odds
T he Nationals, according to
FanGraphs, have a dismal 0.1 per-
cent chance of making the post-
season despite the field expand-
ing from 10 to 12 teams. Only the
Baltimore Orioles are lower at
0 percent, though they have twoA sloppy seventh
The Marlins scored the rest of
their runs in a seventh inning that
brought more sloppy play from the
Nationals. After Jacob Stallings
and Jazz Chisholm Jr. singled off
Austin Voth, Victor Arano entered,
Jesús Aguilar singled off him, and
a circus ensued.
First, Jorge Soler scorched a
one-hopper right at shortstop Dee
Strange-Gordon, who fell back-
ward as it rolled to Thomas in left.
From there, as two runs scored,
Thomas threw wide of home plate
and Ruiz had trouble locating the
ball. Arano, having jogged in to
back up Ruiz, picked it up as Soler
dashed for second. Arano then
threw wide of the bag and into
center field, bringing in a third run
and putting Soler on third base.
The Nationals were charged
with two errors on the play — one
for Thomas, the other for Arano.
Strange-Gordon could have
knocked the ball down, even
though it was sizzling at 113.2 mph.
If not for Victor Robles’s diving
stop on Arano’s miscue, Soler
would have scored, too. (He soon
did anyway on a single by García.)
And to add to Washington’s defen-
sive woes, some generous scoring
kept César Hernández from col-
lecting an error on a groundermoved Yadiel Hernandez to desig-
nated hitter and inserted Lane
Thomas in left. Cruz, 41, was at the
park for a bit Monday, wearing a
mask in the clubhouse. But once
he conferred with the medical
staff, the Nationals decided Cruz
shouldn’t be around his team-
mates.
Beyond that, Martinez did not
describe it as a potential coronavi-
rus issue. Cruz’s status for Tuesday
night’s game is unclear.win over the last-place Nationals
(12-25). Washington dropped to
0-4 against the Marlins (16-19).
“If I were to do it over again, I’d
probably spin him [with curve-
balls] until he swings the bat,”
Sanchez said of the pitch to García.
“Obviously, you saw what I did in
the second at-bat.... I threw him
[seven] curveballs and one heater,
and he ended up striking out. If I
can go back and take one back,
that’s maybe one of them.... My
game is better at the bottom of the
zone, and I got to be better.”
Despite a nine-pitch, one-two-
three first, Sanchez had recorded
just 11 outs on 74 pitches when he
was pulled in the fourth. Marlins
starter Sandy Alcantara, mean-
while, flipped his start in the oppo-
site direction. The Nationals
blitzed Alcantara, scoring a run in
the first on singles by César
Hernández, Josh Bell and Yadiel
Hernandez. But they also left the
bases loaded and stranded two
more in the next inning.
Alcantara dominated the rest of
the way, retiring the final 20 bat-
ters he saw. When the second end-
ed, his pitch count was at 43, a
good sign for the Nationals and
their chances of chasing the ace
early. By the end of the fifth,
though, it was 71, still three fewer
than Sanchez threw in his entire
outing. Sanchez’s ERA grew to 7.94
in five starts with the Nationals,
who signed him to a minor league
deal in March. Alcantara’s ERA
dipped to 2.49 with seven innings
on 100 pitches.
This was a tale of two sinkers,
then of two arms.
“He was making his pitches in
the right place,” Juan Soto said of
Alcantara, who mixes a slider, a
change-up, a four-seam fastball
and a sinker. “But sometimes he
was missing the strike zone, and
we kept swinging at it.
“We just got to stay more calm
and try to make swings at the good
pitches. I think he has pretty good
stuff, but he was kind of a little off
the strike zone today and we just
helped him out.”
Here’s what else to know about
the Nationals’ loss:Cruz is scratched
Nelson Cruz did not feel well,
said Manager Dave Martinez, whoNATIONALS FROM D1Nationals are finished off by top-notch start in their series openerMarlins 8, Nationals 2
NATIONALS AB RHBIBBSOAVG
C.Hernandez 2b.............. 311011 .268
Soto rf ............................ 400000 .252
Bell 1b ............................ 401000 .333
Y.Hernandez dh.............. 411101 .330
Ruiz c.............................. 301000 .269
Franco 3b........................ 400002 .257
Thomas lf ....................... 401101 .214
Strange-Gordon ss......... 400000 .167
Robles cf......................... 300001 .225
TOTALS 33 25 216 —
MARLINS AB RHBIBBSOAVG
Chisholm Jr. 2b .............. 513100 .303
Aguilar dh....................... 512001 .268
Soler lf............................ 512200 .195
Cooper 1b ....................... 401002 .255
García rf.......................... 412201 .220
Anderson 3b................... 210021 .253
De La Cruz cf .................. 413000 .333
González ss .................... 311210 .143
Stallings c...................... 412001 .224
TOTALS 36 8167 36 —
WASHINGTON........ 100 000 001 —252
MIAMI..................... 040 000 40X —816 1
E: Thomas (1), Arano (1), Bass (1). LOB: Washington 7,
Miami 7. 2B: De La Cruz 2 (3), Stallings (2), Cooper (8),
Chisholm Jr. (7). HR: García (3), off Sanchez.
RBI: Y.Hernandez (20), Thomas (11), García 2 (9),
González 2 (3), Chisholm Jr. (25), Soler 2 (18).
SB: Robles (1). CS: Chisholm Jr. (2).
NATIONALS IP HRER BB SO NP ERA
Sanchez .................... 32 / 3 84432 74 7.94
Edwards Jr................ 11 / 3 00001 18 5.06
Voth............................. 132200 21 5.74
Arano........................... 142202 27 4.60
Ramírez....................... 110001 16 1.80
MARLINS IP HRER BB SO NP ERA
Alcantara .................... 831115100 2.49
Bass............................. 121001 15 1.12
WP: Alcantara (3-2); LP: Sanchez (2-3). Inherited run-
ners-scored: Edwards Jr. 1-0, Arano 2-2. IBB: off San-
chez (Anderson). HBP: Alcantara 2 (Ruiz,Robles).
T: 3:01. A: 6,601 (36,742).
HOW THEY SCORED
NATIONALS FIRST
Cesar Hernandez singles. Juan Soto pops out. Josh Bell
singles, Cesar Hernandez to third. Yadiel Hernandez
singles, Josh Bell to second, Cesar Hernandez scores.
Keibert Ruiz hit by pitch, Yadiel Hernandez to second,
Josh Bell to third. Maikel Franco reaches on a fielder’s
choice, Keibert Ruiz to second, Yadiel Hernandez to
third, Josh Bell out at home. Lane Thomas called out on
strikes.
Nationals 1, Marlins 0
MARLINS SECOND
Garrett Cooper called out on strikes. Avisail Garcia
homers. Brian Anderson walks. Bryan De La Cruz dou-
bles, Brian Anderson to third. Erik Gonzalez singles,
Bryan De La Cruz scores, Brian Anderson scores. Jacob
Stallings doubles, Erik Gonzalez to third. Jazz Chisholm
Jr. singles, Jacob Stallings to third, E rik Gonzalez
scores. Jesus Aguilar grounds out.
Marlins 4, Nationals 1
MARLINS SEVENTH
Jacob Stallings singles. Jazz Chisholm Jr. singles, Jacob
Stallings to second. Jesus Aguilar singles, Jazz
C hisholm Jr. to second, Jacob Stallings to third. Jorge
Soler singles, advances to third, Jesus Aguilar scores,
Jazz Chisholm Jr. scores, Jacob Stallings scores.
Throwing errors by Lane Thomas, Victor Arano. Garrett
Cooper strikes out swinging. Avisail Garcia singles,
Jorge Soler scores. Brian Anderson strikes out swing-
ing. Bryan De La Cruz doubles, Avisail Garcia to third.
Erik Gonzalez grounds out.
Marlins 8, Nationals 1
NATIONALS NINTH
Yadiel Hernandez reaches on fielding error by Anthony
Bass. Keibert Ruiz singles, Yadiel Hernandez to third.
Maikel Franco strikes out swinging. Lane Thomas sin-
gles, Keibert Ruiz to second, Yadiel Hernandez scores.
Dee Strange-Gordon reaches on a fielder’s choice, Lane
Thomas out at second, Keibert Ruiz to third. Victor
Robles grounds out.
Marlins 8, Nationals 2MICHAEL REAVES/GETTY IMAGES
Yadiel Hernandez got the Nationals off to a quick start with an RBI single in the first inning Monday.NATIONALS ON DECKat Miami MarlinsToday6:40 MASN2
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