AL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES: RANGERS VS ASTROS

October 14, 2023

Justin Verlander

Minute Maid Park

Houston Astros

Workout Day Press Conference

Q. Here we are, another postseason series, another Game 1 start for you. As you reminded everyone, don't take this stuff for granted. You were telling your teammates, I guess you tell yourself that all the time when you get in these situations?

JUSTIN VERLANDER: Absolutely. You know, I'm always kind of reminded of my first year, Sean Casey traded over to us in Detroit, and he had ten years in the league, and I remember him talking about the opportunity to play in the playoffs because he never had that opportunity and how exciting it was to him.

And I guess that perspective has just always stuck with me, just knowing that this isn't easy and no matter how long you play it can always be your last chance.

Q. Do you get the same level of excitement as you did the first time?

JUSTIN VERLANDER: Yeah, absolutely, yeah. Anxiousness, nerves, excitement, all the feels.

Q. What separates Astros that they're able to overcome these long stretches of days off and keep churning? Because what happened in the DS, the teams that had the layoffs, last year you guys had a long time between series and you kept winning. Why doesn't that bother this club?

JUSTIN VERLANDER: I don't know. This year was good. I think the depth of our lineup helps tremendously, just because a lot of times you need a few guys hot. Obviously if everybody is hot at the same time that's great. But if you have two or three guys that can be hot, it's going to help you. And with our depth.

I think a lot of it is the lack of swing and miss. The guys put the ball in play, things happen, good quality at-bats that the guys give. You have men on base and opportunities, which is what it's all about.

You look back to last year, too, and it wasn't easy. If Yordan doesn't hit the home run against Seattle and the other home run in the next game, who knows what happens.

I don't think we have any special recipe that anybody doesn't. It's difficult with days off. I think we embrace that. Everybody knows it and has just tried to find their own -- I think that's the thing going to the ALCS as many times in a row as we have, you definitely have times where you have days off. You are going to have four or five days off in a row, it just happens.

So each individual guy has learned their routine of how to deal with the downtime to allow them to be what they need to be physically, mentally, to go out there and succeed.

Q. With the two oldest managers in all of baseball facing off in the ALCS, from your perspective what do you see of the benefits of having an older manager?

JUSTIN VERLANDER: I think just experience, instincts, kind of like been there before and know -- have seen a lot. And I think kind of like older pitchers, you know, there's instincts, they're there for a reason. And you can trust your gut. And I think a lot of times it works out.

Q. The other night on the broadcast Smoltz in so many words said you throw the regular season out the window now, it doesn't matter. Is that the singular focus you have to have this time of year?

JUSTIN VERLANDER: Absolutely, yeah. Regular season doesn't mean anything anymore. And I think it's a different game, playoffs is a different brand of baseball. I think just when you put every guy on the roster together and have this mentality of do everything you can, every single play to try to win a baseball game.

You know, it sounds odd, but during the regular season it doesn't always work like that. You play 162 games, it's a lot of baseball. And it will wear you down, and sometimes you maybe take off mentally a little bit here or there or ease off the gas. You see position players not trying to do too much on reaching a ground ball. It might be close, but it's not worth it for them to sniff out that extra base hit or stretch towards the second or first to third. Pitching, you give in in certain situations, where in the regular season it doesn't matter so much.

But now it's quite different. It's just much more intense and you try to scratch and claw every single extra advantage that you can get on both sides of the ball. And hopefully that helps you win a baseball game.

Q. Obviously you spent the bulk of your career in the AL Central. What was it like to face guys like Brantley and Abreu, and what have you learned from them being teammates with them now?

JUSTIN VERLANDER: It wasn't fun facing them, first off, you know. They give you great at-bats. And I think that's what I appreciate more now playing with them is just the quality of their approach and the consistency with which they go up there and stick to their game plan, try not to give in to the pitcher, and in the long run that usually pays dividends.

Q. It came on unfortunate circumstances that you got injured. Because you missed that first month, month and a half of the season, do you feel fresher now compared to postseasons of the past?

JUSTIN VERLANDER: I appreciate you saying that, but, no, I feel the same.

Q. You only had three games pitched this year of six days or longer rest. How do you feel about this particular longer layoff, and did you do anything differently to prepare?

JUSTIN VERLANDER: Threw two bullpens. It's a bit of a balancing act right now. You're trying to get yourself as fresh as possible, but you're also trying to stay sharp. I have a tendency to lose a little bit of feel sometimes with an extended rest. My first couple innings the other day weren't too crisp.

You try to keep the rhythm and tempo. But you can't fake game speed. You just can't replicate that in a bullpen setting. You do everything you possibly can, it's like hitters, you try to keep your timing, face pitchers, do whatever you have to do. Hopefully when the lights go on it clicks.

Q. I know you said the regular season doesn't matter at this point, but you faced this team a month ago. How much can you take from that?

JUSTIN VERLANDER: I don't know. I mean, obviously both sides will be watching that. But try not to take probably too much from it. Each game is unique and different, and there's a back-and-forth game that's happening. I won't do too much with that, I don't think.

Q. Take us through your game-day routine before you come to the park. And is it the same in the postseason as it is for regular season?

JUSTIN VERLANDER: Yeah, it's the same. I wouldn't really change anything. I maybe come a little earlier during the postseason. But sleep in pretty late, try to get as much rest as I can if it's a night game. Usually order some food. It's usually a cheeseburger of some variety. I won't say where I order it from. It changes occasionally, depending on how the start goes, obviously. And also a chicken Caesar salad, I'll start with that.

And then, let's see, I'll leave for the field usually around 2:45. There's a Starbucks run in there. And then leave for the field at 2:45, get here, change, start to do my homework, and then obviously it's pretty scripted from there.

But I'm simplifying it a bit. I used to have a lot more little quirks and stuff. I used to leave the plate I ate on out and nobody was allowed to clean it up. I must have been running late and left a plate out and had a really good game. That stuck around for a while.

I think my daughter has helped me a lot, just being able to kind of get out of my own way sometimes before games. And I try to enjoy the time with her before I come to the field. And it's a pleasant distraction from what's to come. I mean, she's just the light of my life, so it's fun to spend time with her.

Q. That was great detail. I love that, what we don't see, and we don't see a lot. People, players who have been around as long as you have and have pitched in so many big games will often say it's different, postseason is different. But can you expand on it so that a fan can understand what that means? Because if you didn't play, you don't know.

JUSTIN VERLANDER: I guess the difference would be like an analogy that just popped in my head, I don't know if this makes sense or not, you go to class every single day for college or high school, and every day is class. You know, you've got to pay attention. You're there, but you can kind of ease off a little bit, versus the midterm exam day or the big exam or big essay or whatever that one day is that you prepared the whole season for, or the whole semester for.

When you show up that day, it's different. It's busy. It's a little more strict. And you're not coming, goofing off with people. If you're taking it seriously, obviously, that counts. If you're taking it seriously, you've prepared months, years, a lifetime for these moments, you're not just going to treat it like any other day.

Q. A lot of deep playoff runs for you personally and for this team. The question is eight months of grinding, if you include Spring Training, how do you guys physically and especially mentally keep the focus and keep grinding into early November year after year? What's the key to that?

JUSTIN VERLANDER: I think the locker room culture. I think that has a lot to do with it, the personnel of the guys.

Not only do we expect to be here but we plan it and prepare for it and go and play the game with that in mind. I know it sounds simple, but I think it's very easy to become complacent after you've been there, done that for a while.

And that just doesn't happen here. If anything, every time, in my experience -- obviously I wasn't there in Spring Training this past year, but it's almost the opposite. You go to the ALCS, you win a World Series, you know, a lot of the times I would expect that you show up in Spring Training the next year with a little more of a relaxed attitude, and that doesn't seem to be the case with these guys, from the leaders of this team, and that just permeates throughout the entire locker room and the whole organization.