'A bit of a grind': The highs and lows of Verlander's 117-pitch effort

NEW YORK -- For a Mets team that accomplished little of note on the offensive side of a 3-0 loss to the Blue Jays on Friday night, the game’s highlight occurred in the sixth inning.

With the bases loaded and two outs at Citi Field, Justin Verlander prepared to face Daulton Varsho with 111 pitches already on his ledger. He fell behind in the count, 2-1, before coming back with a fastball and a slider. Varsho fouled off both.

Finally, on his 117th offering of the night, Verlander threw another slider. It wasn’t as crisp as the first one, but the right-hander took a bit more off the pitch, disjointing Varsho’s timing enough to generate the whiff he needed -- “what future Hall of Fame pitchers do,” as Blue Jays manager John Schneider put it.

It was the high point of an outing that began 90 minutes late due to a rain delay and which ended up as both successful and straining. Verlander’s 117 pitches were his most in a game since his 2019 no-hitter with the Astros, the most by a 40-something pitcher since R.A. Dickey in 2017, and the most by a non-knuckleballer at that age since Bartolo Colón in 2014.

But ultimately, his effort went for naught. The Mets’ offense, which has averaged 2.5 runs per game this homestand, couldn’t support Verlander with any runs against former teammate Chris Bassitt.

“It was a bit of a grind, but it’s not frustrating,” Verlander said. “Bassitt looked great. He had an ‘on’ night. We’ve been playing pretty good baseball. This is just one of those days.”

Overall, Verlander delivered one of his best starts of the season, striking out eight batters over six innings and allowing his only run on a George Springer leadoff homer. But the outing was inefficient, forcing the Mets to turn earlier than preferred to a bullpen that wound up tripling the margin when Varsho went deep off Jeff Brigham in the ninth.

Verlander has now made six starts since returning from a teres major strain in his right side that cost him the first five weeks of the season. In the first campaign of a record-tying two-year, $86.6 million contract, Verlander is 2-3 with a 4.25 ERA. His strikeout rate is notably down from last year’s Cy Young run with the Astros, while his walk and home-run rates have both increased.

He has not been a bad pitcher by any stretch of the word. But he also hasn’t come close to approximating the type of dominance the Mets hoped they might receive from a former MVP and three-time Cy Young Award winner.

“By and large, it’s been good,” general manager Billy Eppler said before the game. “I know he’s had a couple bumps. Early on, I don’t think he was expecting to have that kind of [injury] situation that sidelined him like it did. That was disappointing for him. But we just want to continue to support him.”

Added Eppler: “We’ve seen the flashes from him.”

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One other frustration continues to affect Verlander in his first season with the Mets: his propensity for being struck by batted balls. Including the comebackers he took off each leg during his final Spring Training start, Verlander has absorbed at least half a dozen baseballs to his legs and body over the past 10 weeks. Two more struck him on Friday, including one that prompted a brief visit from a member of the training staff.

“Maybe I’ll wear, like, some soccer shin pads and get those football underpants,” Verlander quipped. “I don’t know. I’m sick of these balls coming back at me.”

So far, those incidents have been more annoyances than genuine problems. For a Mets team banking on Verlander’s continued health and heartiness at age 40, though, they are another reason to fret.

But Verlander’s capability to go deep into games is offering plenty of evidence that his physical condition will not be an issue. Not only is he one of three pitchers to appear at age 40 or older this season, but he is the only pitcher of any age to throw at least 117 pitches in a game.

“He feels good physically,” manager Buck Showalter said. “He’s a guy that’s been used to pitching in that area. And he was our best option.”