New York Mets fans react to Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer reporting to spring training together: "Going to be a fun season" "Vibes are high"
New York Mets fans were greeted warmly Tuesday morning by a video of the team's co-aces, Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer, walking into spring training camp.
Verlander, the 2022 National League Cy Young Award winner, was signed to an $86.7 million, two-year deal by the Mets to replace departed star hurler Jacob deGrom. The move reunited Verlander with Scherzer, a former Detroit Tigers teammate, atop the New York starting staff.
The New York Mets, who signed Scherzer to a three-year, $130 million contract with the team before last season, now have in excess of $173 million locked up in the top two members of their starting staff over the next two seasons.
Not that money was on any Mets fan's mind watching the two pitchers with a combined six Cy Young Award wins between them in the opening stage of the upcoming 2023 season. Verlander and Scherzer have New Yorkers thinking about October and November.
Of course, with Verlander turning 40 in a matter of a few days, and Scherzer turining 39 in July, there were more than a few jabs about the relatively geriatic nature of the New York Mets' superstar pitchers.
It's been a decade since Scherzer and Verlander were teammates. The two were both key members of the Detroit Tigers' staff of the early 2010s. Verlander is a 2004 Tigers' draftee, while Scherzer was acquired by Detroit from the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2009.
Other than just thinking about the World Series, Mets fans – like most baseball fans – are just happy to see the resumption of baseball activities. Spring training is a time of optimism, clean slates, thoughts of summer and the promise of what's to come.
New York Mets hoping to turn Verlander/Scherzer combo in a trophy
Verlander and Scherzer were teammates in Detroit from 2010-2014. In that time, they won one Cy Young apiece – Verlander in 2011, Scherzer in 2014 – and made six combined All-Star Game appearances.
The two were a nearly-unstoppable duo, with each never failing to reach double digit-wins during their time together.
The New York Mets are hoping the pair can take it one step further than they did in Motown. While the Tigers made it to the 2012 World Series with Verlander and Scherzer, Detroit lost in a four-game sweep to the San Francisco Giants. Verlander won two championships with Houston Astros, while Scherzer won one with the Washington Nationals.
Now, New York hopes they can win at least one more with the Mets.