Reply With Quote
Nice year for Justin Verlander, and he was rewarded as an almost unanimous choice for rookie of the year (26 of 28 first place votes).
Verlander wins AL Rookie of the Year
Righty tops list of talented young hurlers in American League
By Jason Beck / MLB.com
Justin Verlander's 17 wins easily led all Major League rookie pitchers.
DETROIT -- Even in the midst of the disappointment of a World Series defeat, Justin Verlander admitted after his season-ending loss that he couldn't have asked for a better rookie season. Two weeks later, with a little time and a lot of a hardware, it's a little clearer to him now.
In what was categorized as the year of the rookie pitcher in the American League, Verlander was the one still pitching at the end -- the very end, in fact, by starting the final game of the World Series. He didn't get a championship, but by winning Monday's AL Rookie of the Year award from the Baseball Writers' Association of America, he has a clean sweep of the rookie honors.
The latest and most prestigious of the awards wasn't even close. Verlander received 26 of the 28 first-place votes, and his 133 total points more than doubled that of runner-up Jonathan Papelbon. Twins hurler Francisco Liriano and Orioles outfielder Nick Markakis received the other first-place votes.
The historic significance runs deep. Verlander became the first starting pitcher in a quarter-century to win AL rookie honors, last accomplished by then-Yankees pitcher Dave Righetti in 1981. No Tigers at any position had won the award since Lou Whitaker in 1978, and no Tigers pitcher since Mark Fidrych in 1976.
"I've definitely had an opportunity to put things in perspective," Verlander said, "and realize how much of a good year this was, not only for me but the team as a whole, how lucky I was to make it to the World Series in my rookie year."
Add up all the games Verlander put in to get there, from his season debut in Texas to Game 5 of the Fall Classic in St. Louis, and he pitched 207 2/3 innings -- 86 more than Liriano and 17 more than any other rookie hurler this year. He topped Dontrelle Willis' 2003 innings total by 35.
Yet, it was more than simply a battle of attrition that Verlander won. The 23-year-old right-hander ranked fourth among AL pitchers of all experience levels with 17 wins, easily leading all Major League rookies, as did his 186 innings pitched and 3.63 ERA among rookies with enough innings to qualify for an ERA le. He ranked among the league leaders in ERA until a second-half fade -- he posted a 5.86 ERA over his final nine starts -- which knocked him into a seventh-place tie.
"I don't think anybody expected to get what we got," pitching coach Chuck Hernandez said. "We figured he'd be a pretty good pitcher, but you never know how guys handle things. He went through a lot when he got tired. That's a learning situation everyone goes through."
Not everyone, however, goes though it on as big of a stage as Verlander, who went from the fifth man in Detroit's rotation order at season's start to a frontline arm by midseason. He made his presence known in an April loss at Oakland, where he repeatedly hit triple digits on the radar gun, then won AL Rookie of the Month honors in May with a four-game winning streak that included a complete-game shutout in Kansas City.
Verlander was the first Major League rookie in five years, and the first Tigers rookie, to win 10 games by the All-Star break. He was baseball's first rookie since Dwight Gooden in 1984 to last six innings with one or no runs allowed in five consecutive starts.
"He pitched early in the year in a lot of big games against the big pitchers," Hernandez said. "He had that sense knowing it's going to be tough to get runs tonight. It's almost like he dialed it up, and that's pretty impressive for a young guy."
All the while, Papelbon was leading the Majors in saves, while Liriano was playing a major role in turning around the Twins from their slow start in 2006.
"I think it's kind of feeding off the success of one another," Verlander admitted Monday. "I said all year, it's like what me and [Joel] Zumaya did all year. Seeing someone going through the same process you are during the year, I think it accelerates the process. Seeing other rookies come in and have success, we can kind of build off each other. It gives us all the more confidence to go out and go after these guys."
By the stretch run, Verlander was running out of company, at least nationally. Liriano began experiencing elbow pain near the end of July, struggled from there, and underwent reconstructive surgery on Nov. 6, which is expected to keep him out of action for 2007. Papelbon was shut down at the beginning of September after injuring his shoulder, and is expected to shift back to the Red Sox rotation next year.
Verlander, too, had his struggles, battling arm fatigue and a drop in velocity while giving up a 5.86 ERA over his final nine starts. Yet within that stretch were key performances in what ended up being clutch wins, including seven innings of one-run ball to beat the White Sox on Aug. 21 and the Twins on Sept. 7 at the Metrodome.
"I was a little bit different," Verlander said. "Most of that was physical, not mental. It was pretty well noted my fastball wasn't what it was. Mentally I was the same. I'm going to challenge hitters. I still felt the same way. Physically, I couldn't throw in the upper 90s."
With advice from Kenny Rogers, who knows something about pitching without an abundance of power, Verlander learned a thing or two about pitching.
"Pretty much everything this year was a learning experience for me," Verlander said. "Having to pitch without my best stuff is definitely something I can take away from, and I pitched OK. That gives me confidence."
Building off that will be the challenge for next spring. For now, the Tigers' offseason plan for him is to simply rest his tired arm. He nearly missed the award announcement because he was outside washing his car at his home in Goochland, Va.
Lest he get too caught up in the awards, however, Hernandez called him immediately afterwards with congratulations -- and instructions on what he can do better.
"We didn't get into approach and pitching mentality," Verlander said. "We talked about fielding, obviously."
Said Hernandez: "He should win Gold Gloves. They're scared to run on him. He's a tremendous athlete. Fielding, he threw one [ball] away in the World Series, but I don't remember him doing that this year. He's got the ability to be a Gold Glove fielder some day."
The pitching part of his game is not something Hernandez is going to harp on quite yet.
"He will refine his command within the strike zone over the next couple years at the sake of not losing his good stuff," Hernandez said. "That just comes with reps. The more times you step on the mound, your command on both sides of the plate gets better. By the end of the year, the curveball was becoming a real good pitch."
http://detroit.tigers.mlb.com/NASApp...=.jsp&c_id=det
