Competitive nature can take you so far," Dusty Baker said Tuesday. "The fact that they are this ready this soon is a tribute to how hard they work and their fortitude and desire to excel."
McCullers and Verlander traded zeroes for five innings during a simulated game Tuesday afternoon at Minute Maid. McCullers threw 74 pitches, while Verlander tossed 67. He was originally scheduled for just four innings but according to pitching Brent Strom was allowed to go another frame because "he felt so good".
"I definitely feel very strong," McCullers said. "My entire body is responding very, very well to these (simulated games), so I can't really ask for much more based off of how I feel and how I've been able to go out there get my work in."
McCullers hasn't pitched in a Major League game since undergoing Tommy John Surgery following the 2018 American League Championship Series, but he was full-go before spring training was shutdown in March. He was on a normal throwing program during the break, so with nine days left before the start of the regular season he believes he is right where he needs to be.
"I do feel very good right now, and I would say it's overall this is the best I've felt coming out of a camp."
Verlander's ramp-up has been a little more complicated. His spring training was mired by a lat strain and then he underwent groin surgery on March 17, so he isn't quite where he wants to be, but he's close.
"I'm probably about where I should be, now maybe a little behind just because the circumstances and the rehab and everything that I went through. It does feel a little bit rushed."
Tuesday was the second time Verlander faced hitters during the Astros three-week summer camp. He will likely get one more tune-up on Sunday before the season opener against the Mariners.
"In an ideal world, we'd like to schedule out the timeframes to have starts and maybe have an extra day rest here or there and a ramp up process to build up for the season, not just five-days, five-days, five-days, five-days season. That's asking a lot while you're also trying to build up your pitch count, but this isn't ideal for anyone, and it is what it is."
After missing all of 2019 and with a new regime running baseball operations, McCullers knows 2020 is an important season and showing that he's healthy and productive could put his career back on the trajectory it was on when he was named to the American League All Star team in 2017. Verlander is trying to add to his legacy which will one day land him in Cooperstown, and at age 37, Strom loves what he sees out of him thus far.
"The balls coming out of his hand exceptional right now. This guy's on a mission, and I'm giving him a better than even chance to pitch as long as Nolan Ryan right now."