BRONX — Justin Verlander emphatically denounced any notion that he’s thinking about potentially getting traded by the New York Mets ahead of Major League Baseball’s Aug. 1 trade deadline.
“I’m just focused on what’s ahead of me,” the 40-year-old right-hander said following his six-inning effort against the Yankees on Tuesday night. “I would hope that if there was any chance, [general manager Billy Eppler] would come and talk to me and that hasn’t happened.”
Verlander put forth his second consecutive stellar start as things finally appear to be coming together in the future Hall-of-Famer’s debut season with the Mets.
Overcoming a shoulder injury that held him out for the first month of the season and the build-up toward consistency that came with it, he followed an eight-inning gem last week against the Chicago White Sox with six innings of shutout ball in the Bronx with six punchouts in the Mets’ 9-3 win over the Yankees.
After posting a 4.84 ERA in his first seven starts in New York after signing a two-year, $86.6 million deal over the winter, Verlander is 3-2 with a 1.98 ERA and 43 strikeouts over his last eight outings.
“I found my groove,” he said. “I’m pitching better.”
For a Mets team on the very outside of the National League playoff picture 18 games back of the division lead and six games behind the final Wild Card spot in the NL, there is the idea that Cohen could cut his losses on the most expensive team in baseball history and trade Verlander to more of a contender.
Granted, an emphatic win against the Yankees could help provide the springboard that the Mets have desperately been looking for all summer to provide team brass with enough hope that a run could still be made for a postseason spot.
“I’m focused on being a Met,” Verlander said. “That’s why I signed here. I want to win here. It hasn’t gone according to plan just yet, but I didn’t sign a one-year deal. So there’s that.”
