By STEVE KORNACKI
Special to FOXSportsDetroit.com
LAKELAND, Fla. -- Justin Verlander has the one quality that makes for a great pitcher -- or a great anything for that matter.
He has an insatiable desire for more.
There is not a complacent bone in his long, lanky body. Verlander reached the top of his craft last season by going 24-5 for the Detroit Tigers and becoming the unanimous Cy Young Award winner in the American League. He became the first pitcher since Oakland A’s closer Dennis Eckersley in 1992 to win the MVP award as well.
All of that means a lot to him, but he doesn’t want that to be the pinnacle season of his career. He wants more, and that is why he worked just as hard this winter as in the past, and why on Tuesday he was able to crank up the velocity in a bases-loaded jam against the Atlanta Braves.
It all goes back to something Verlander told me last year at this time when asked about his inability to be satisfied with the past.
“I was blessed with a great arm," Verlander said. "I can do things with my arm that others can’t. ... But I want to be the best. I want to go to the Hall of Fame."
And nothing's changed since then.
With the bases loaded and nobody out in the third inning against Atlanta, Chipper Jones came to the plate.
“He’s got to be a Hall of Famer,” Verlander said. “It’s always fun to face guys like that. I grew up a Braves fan.”
And he admired Jones as a boy in Virginia. So, exhibition game or not, this had his attention. Verlander got Jones to pop up to second for the first out.
Eric Hinske followed with a two-run single, and a big inning was a possibility. But Verlander got Jason Heyward to fly out and struck out Matt Diaz to end the inning. He said it was good to get into a jam to force the need to bear down. Adversity will come in the season, and facing it now helps.
“I got the fastball up to 96 and 97 when I got into trouble,” he said.
Catcher Alex Avila said Verlander, who will be throwing his 100 mph heater before long, topped out at 93 mph in his last game. He has upped his pitch count from 25 to 45 to 63 to 75 in four Grapefruit League starts.
“I think his off-speed pitches are further along than last spring,” said Avila. “And today, you saw his velocity improve. That means his arm is getting stronger. He had that 97 in his back pocket, but had to find the release point again.
“The most impressive thing he did last year was take it to another level with guys on base. He found that today.”
Verlander has a 1.84 ERA after four spring starts with 17 strikeouts, three walks and 11 hits allowed in 14 2/3 innings. His signature curveball, slider and changeup are being sharpened as surely as his heater adds kindling to the fire.
“I would hate to face him because he throws everything for strikes,” Avila said. “You can’t eliminate a pitch he will throw in any count.”
Verlander’s .192 batting average against and 6.24 hits per nine innings were the lowest of any pitcher in club history. Neither 31-game winner Denny McLain, Hall of Famer Hal Newhouser nor Jack Morris were harder to hit over the course of one season than Verlander was in 2011.
He got his second no-hitter last year and could easily double that total before his dominance fades. Verlander is just 29 and already has a career 107-57 record.
Coming off a season that also featured a league-leading 250 strikeouts and 2.40 ERA, Verlander was asked how his confidence level varies from that of other springs.
“I’ve never been shy on confidence,” he said. “You need that to be successful in this game.”
It’s what you need when your off-speed stuff is off and your velocity isn’t enough. It’s that feeling that you will find a way because you have before. That’s confidence.
“I’m just gaining momentum now,” Verlander said. “I want to get on a roll, get the pitch count up and get ready for day one. It’s about gaining momentum for Opening Day.”
The goal is to have everything where it needs to be for the April 5 opener against the Boston Red Sox at Comerica Park.
Verlander said a hole on the front of the pitcher’s mound Tuesday caused him some problems landing in his delivery, and he joked about that with former teammate and current Braves starter Jair Jurrjens.
“The mound caused a little bit of an issue,” Verlander said. “It might have led to a couple of walks. I told (Jurrjens) he was doing it. He told me I was doing it. But I usually don’t create holes. I said, ‘J.J., it’s you, not me.’”
Verlander did, figuratively, dig himself a hole with that bases-loaded jam. But he escaped that inning with the only two runs he allowed in five innings to get the win.
And in that way, Verlander already was in midseason form.
