Verlander plays big role in MLB ad campaign

If you’ve been watching MLB Network or ESPN tonight — or maybe this weekend, if you’re watching Michigan State tonight — you might have noticed MLB’s new commercials looking ahead to Opening Day. If you have, you saw Justin Verlander saying he’ll throw 107.

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We’re thinking he’s kidding, unless he meant 107 pitches rather than 107 mph. Hey, he threw 114 pitches on Opening Day last year.

If you go to MLBFanCave.com, you’ll find a few bonus clips on Verlander, including …

• Verlander showing off all his pitch grips, including a knuckleball. “I don’t really throw that,” he shrugs. “Just messing around.”
• Verlander talking about the first time he hit 100 mph on a radar gun. Hint: It was in college at Old Dominion, not in the pros.
• Verlander breaking down a funky curveball he used to throw as a kid before he developed the nasty curveball he drops on hitters today.
• Verlander talking about the strangest pitch grip he has ever seen, a vulcan changeup.