Justin Verlander

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**Justin Verlander**

Detroit Tigers — No. 35
Starting Pitcher
Bats: Right	Throws: Right
MLB debut
July 4, 2005 for the Detroit Tigers
Selected MLB statistics (through October 1, 2006)
Win-loss	17-11
Strikeouts	131
Earned run average	3.83

Justin Brooks Verlander (born February 20, 1983, in Manakin-Sabot, Virginia) is a Major League Baseball pitcher who ended the 2005 season pitching for the Erie SeaWolves, the AA affiliate of the Detroit Tigers. He is the fifth starter in the Tigers rotation in 2006. Verlander, a 6'5", 200 pound right-hander, pitched for the Old Dominion University baseball team for three years. In 2003, he set a school single season record by recording 139 strikeouts; in 2004, he broke his own record and established a new Colonial Athletic Association record with 151 strikeouts. In 2006, he was named American League's Rookie of the Year.

At the age of 13, his father Richard, who was president of the Richmond local of the Communications Workers of America,^[1] gave up catching Justin's ball because of the velocity. He sent Justin to a baseball academy. Justin clocked 84 mph shortly after joining the academy. The velocity kept getting faster and it passed 93 when he entered high school. He had been a top pitching prospect in high school, but his career suffered a setback when he came down with strep throat early in his senior season of baseball. A weakened Verlander topped out at 86 during that season, causing professional scouts to lose interest.^[1] After he recovered, his velocity reached 100 during his first year at Old Dominion. Verlander's professional baseball career began when the Tigers selected him second overall in the 2004 Major League Baseball Amateur Draft. After lengthy negotiations, he signed with the Tigers in October of that year. Verlander started the 2005 season in the Florida State League, where he showed both terrific stuff and surprisingly good control. He was rewarded with a brief appearance in the majors, making his first major league start on July 4, 2005. After one more start in the majors, he returned to the minor leagues—this time to the AA Eastern League, where he posted a 0.28 Earned Run Average over 7 starts. At the end of the season, he was named the "2005 Starting Pitcher of the Year" by Minor League Baseball.

He has drawn comparisons to former Tiger and Major Leaguer, Mark Fidrych. "The Bird," as he was called, pitched an excessive amount of innings (by today's standards) in his rookie season and his sophomore season, after which his career was tragically cut short when he seriously injured his leg while goofing off during spring training prior to what was to have been his third MLB season, which in turn altered his mechanics and led to the rotator cuff injury that ended his career. Fidrych, during his rookie year, won 19 games, led the American League with a 2.34 ERA and finished first in the Rookie of the Year Award voting. Verlander is on pace for a similar season, numbers-wise. The Tigers organization is taking extreme caution not to waste Verlander's arm and spoil his bright future.

Verlander's rookie teammate on the Tigers, Joel Zumaya, pitches in a style similar to Verlander's, and as such, the team is taking baby steps with him as well.

Verlander is currently considered one of the premier rookie pitchers in baseball. He features a high-90s fastball (which has been clocked on several occasions as exceeding 100 mph), a biting curveball, and a deceptive changeup. While he is not known for it, he possesses a very good and quick pick-off move. His biggest question is control; if his 2005 season represents a real improvement in that area, he is likely to be an excellent pitcher in the major leagues. In 2006, he became the first rookie pitcher in the history of the game to win 10 games before the end of June. As the fifth starter on an already strong pitching staff, his numbers have been in considerable excess to the average statistics of other rookie pitchers throughout history. He was named AL Rookie of the Year for the 2006 season.