At the end of this disastrous start, the first-year manager was still in direct contact with one of his ballclub’s most revered personalities.
Atrocious’: Justin Verlander’s latest debacle puts his postseason in jeopardy
The conversation came at the conclusion of this calamitous start, a first-year manager maintaining direct communication with one of his ballclub’s most deified figures. Intrigue had long left Minute Maid Park when Joe Espada found Justin Verlander inside the first-base dugout.
“I mean, f—, the damage has been done, whatever,” Verlander said. “I’m good.”
Verlander had secured nine outs and staked his team to an eight-run deficit. Not since May 16, 2013, had Verlander yielded eight earned runs in three or fewer innings. Few starts of his fabulous career had been worse than this one, but Verlander vowed he could continue it.
“Whatever you need,” Verlander told his manager, a meaningful gesture meant to spare the Houston Astros’ bullpen. Espada said the two men discussed “some things he felt, some things he saw” before reaching a conclusion.
“You know what, JV, we feel good where we’re at right now. We’re going to hand the ball to someone else,” Espada said he told him.
There is thought this is still akin to a spring training buildup and solace taken in the shape of his slider, but Sunday offered a sobering snapshot of Verlander’s state. His search for anything resembling consistency reached its nadir beneath a national audience. Pulling him after three innings of the Astros’ 12-6 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks involved little torment.
