Verlander's secondary pitches dazzled with swing-and-miss stuff, nearly overcoming fastball struggles and a rally before the Yankees secured a late win.
Justin Verlander allowed three home runs and lasted just 3.1 innings, but the line score told only part of the story Thursday. His secondary arsenal generated legitimate swing-and-miss stuff, and a late Detroit rally nearly salvaged the afternoon before the New York Yankees pushed across the deciding run in the ninth inning for a 4-3 spring training victory at Publix Field at Joker Marchant Stadium.
Verlander threw 61 pitches and struck out five, posting a 40 percent overall whiff rate with 12 total swings and misses. The curveball was his best pitch on the day, drawing whiffs on 67 percent of swings at 77.7 mph, sitting 0.8 below his 2025 baseline. The changeup was nearly as sharp at 50 percent, and the slider checked in at 40 percent while averaging 87.4 mph. The sweeper, deployed on just 3 percent of pitches, induced a swing and miss on every look it got.
The fastball was the concern. Sitting 93.5 mph and down 0.4 from his prior baseline, the four-seamer generated only an 18 percent whiff rate and got squared up when it found the zone. Three home runs -- Jasson Dominguez in the first, J.C. Escarra back-to-back in the first, and Seth Brown leading off the second -- came primarily at the fastball's expense, and a max exit velocity of 103.8 mph illustrated where the hard contact originated. Verlander also walked two batters in the fourth inning, putting runners on second and third with nobody out before manager A.J. Hinch pulled him from the game.
Brant Hurter stepped in and immediately steadied things. He inherited the two-runner situation with no outs in the fourth and retired the side on strikeouts, stranding both runners and keeping the deficit at three. Hurter then worked a clean fifth inning, retiring the Tigers in order and not allowing a baserunner across his two frames of work. He threw 10 of his pitches for strikes and showed the kind of composure that makes him a legitimate option in high-leverage situations out of the bullpen.
Kenley Jansen followed in the sixth and looked sharp in his one inning of work. He struck out two of the first three batters he faced, working efficiently and with authority. A fielding error by shortstop Trei Cruz put Max Schuemann aboard with two outs, but Jansen erased him immediately with a pickoff at first base, ending the inning without a run scoring. It was a clean appearance for Jansen despite the miscue behind him.
Detroit had dug out of the early hole by the fifth inning. Dillon Dingler led off with a single to center field, and Zach McKinstry followed with a two-run home run to right field, pulling the Tigers within 3-2 and injecting some life into the Lakeland crowd. The Tigers then tied it in the eighth when Brett Callahan led off with a double to left, Max Anderson singled to put runners on the corners, and Jude Warwick lifted a sacrifice fly to right field to score Callahan and knot it at three.
The Yankees broke through in the ninth against Johan Simon and Logan Berrier. Miguel Palma walked to open the inning and moved to third on a wild pitch. With two outs and the bases loaded after Jace Avina was hit by a pitch, Berrier walked Josh Moylan to force in Palma and hand New York the lead for good.
Detroit went quietly in the bottom of the ninth. Corey Julks struck out on a foul tip, Samuel Gil lined out to second, and Andrew Jenkins grounded out to third to end it.
Hurter, Jansen and Finnegan combined for three hitless innings today. For Hurter, who has had a mixed bag of outings, striking out the side was encourging for his spot on the roster.
Follow me on "X" @rogcastbaseball