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Justin Verlander feeling ‘like s—t’ as dud vs. Rays keeps starting-rotation struggles intact

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Justin Verlander Mets
Justin Verlander (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

QUEENS — A candid Justin Verlander didn’t hold back when he was asked how he felt about his outing on Tuesday night at Citi Field against the Tampa Bay Rays.

“Like s—t,” he said. “Not a lot of positives to take out of it. I guess the only positive is that I have some work to do.”

The 40-year-old co-ace of the Mets was bludgeoned for six runs on eight hits, including a pair of Isaac Paredes home runs, across five innings of work during his home debut and an 8-5 loss — New York’s 16th defeat in its last 22 games.

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Verlander’s first voyages with the team he signed a two-year, $86.6 million deal with over the winter have experienced its fair share of choppy waters. After missing the first month of the season with a shoulder strain, he’s 1-2 with a 4.76 ERA after winning the American League Cy Young last year with the Houston Astros behind an 18-4 record and a 1.75 ERA.

He scrapped his way through five shaky innings in his team debut on May 4 in Detroit against the Tigers, allowing two runs on five hits in a 2-0 loss before tossing a seven-inning, two-hit gem on May 10 in Cincinnati against the Reds.

Tuesday’s outing did little to ease the maelstrom of struggles around the Mets’ starting rotation either. Entering their three-game set against the Rays, New York starting pitching had tossed the fourth-fewest innings in the majors (202.2), allowed the fifth-most home runs (37), the second-most walks (101), and possessed the fifth-highest ERA (5.33).

“I hold myself to a high standard,” Verlander said. “I expect to pitch well. I expect to lift the rotation up when they need it. I take a lot of pride in that and I work my ass off for that and to not be able to do it is frustrating.”

Justin Verlander Mets
New York Mets’ Justin Verlander pitches during the first inning of the team’s baseball game against the Tampa Bay Rays on Tuesday, May 16, 2023, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

The right-hander speculated that his off-speed stuff has been the crux of his issues, stating that it hasn’t “gotten a lot of swing-and-miss or chases,” so far. In particular, opponents possess an .800 slugging percentage against his curveball — a pitch that Paredes lifted his first homer of the night (a three-run shot) on Tuesday.

“[It’s] a big indication that I’m probably not hiding the ball as well as I need to,” Verlander said.  “I’ve already started looking at video trying to find something. I think there’s a little something off with my mechanics and I need to fix it. I need to fix it in a hurry.”

But Verlander nor the Mets are thinking about hitting the proverbial “panic button,” as Verlander described, yet. After all, it’s only been three starts and 17 innings for the three-time Cy Young Award winner.

“He’s still in April with his season,” manager Buck Showalter said. “He was coming off a good outing. He’s going to be fine. This was a good team that’s done well against good pitchers like Justin and I’ll take my chances with him every time. 

“There have been plenty of times in my career where you find yourself a little off,” Verlander added. “There’s no panic button, especially my third start of the season. But sometimes it takes games like this to really kind of kick you and make you study everything that you possibly can to find out what’s a little off.”

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For more on Justin Verlander and the Mets, visit AMNY.com