Justin Verlander may be 39 years of age but he’s still one of the best pitchers in Major League Baseball and the ace of the Astros. We were reminded of that Wednesday night when he struck out 11 Yankees in Houston’s 4-2 victory over New York in Game 1 of the ALCS.
Verlander’s ridiculous curveballs are some of the most fun curveballs to watch, unless you’re an unfortunate soul standing in the batter’s box and trying to hit one of those beauties.
Just ask Yankees third baseman Josh Donaldson about that. That poor fella had the saddest swing when he realized one of the curveballs was going to drop into the zone
Check this out:
Justin Verlander's 82mph Curveball to Donaldson…and Sword. ⚔️ pic.twitter.com/F4h2FsD7Fe
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) October 19, 2022
That was the ol “oh no, this is really happening” swing.
Twitter had reactions.
Donaldson took his helmet off like he was announcing his retirement right then and there. https://t.co/GZqmmto6xm
— Keith Good (@keithisgood) October 19, 2022
Its not the try league josh https://t.co/epknS4bBLq
— Bray 🤍💙 (@LeafsNWO) October 19, 2022
I cannot stop watching this. there is no way Donaldson should have missed it that bad 😭 https://t.co/Ad4UbkZze4
— taylor- read more Fanon (@GOODswagLOVE) October 20, 2022
you could pay me half of what donaldson makes and i could give you this result https://t.co/m4dCceGbg9
— Rev. Brendan D Yates (@b_y_a_t_e_s) October 20, 2022
82 down middle with that swing. 25 million US dollars https://t.co/R0gmyjsA1g
— kyle (@knicks_tape99) October 20, 2022
Pitch was a Wendy’s 4 for 4 and that’s the swing https://t.co/WCfFMb1dfL
— Rob🪬 (@RobertCano_) October 20, 2022
Middle Middle
I'm still sick this morning https://t.co/NrZoHVSWZP
— @realBoShek (@realboshek) October 20, 2022
If you ever happen to search the word “bamboozled” in the dictionary, you may see this https://t.co/OilBVEJZe9
— whitty (@FettyWhit) October 20, 2022
crying https://t.co/UBZPkDSa2U
— yerba matt (@mkrwrt) October 19, 2022
Hung that pitch and this dweeb chops at it https://t.co/sZaLUYmYeK
— Gil (@_PapoLuca) October 20, 2022
