Houston Astros Ace Talks About Rangers Ace Heading into Showdown

Houston Astros ace Justin Verlander is preparing to face his former teammate, Max Scherzer, for the first time as opposing pitchers when they face off Wednesday night in Arlington, Texas.

It is the first time two have ever met like this, though they’ve been teammates twice before — from 2010-14 in Detroit and earlier this season with the New York Mets.

After the pair were dealt away from the Mets earlier this season, there were rumblings in the clubhouse among Mets players and team officials that Scherzer sometimes “grumbled” about Verlander’s attitude, even though the source said the pair attempted to work toward “harmony.”

On Tuesday, before the pair met on Wednesday, Verlander said to the media that, indeed, the two future Hall-of-Famers were “on a better page now,” something Scherzer said earlier this month when asked a similar question.

Verlander went all the way back to his relationship with Scherzer when the pair were in Detroit.

“I don't know if it's two older, wiser men or what but I look back on our time in Detroit — and not that it ever became really bad I think some of it got blown out of proportion — but it was just two highly competitive guys trying to find their foothold in the game and were very competitive and had very strong opinions about the way they went about their business. I think looking at each other now through a different lens it's two guys who do go about things differently but there's more than one way to be successful.”

Verlander went on to say that when the pair were in New York earlier this year, their relationship was different and he approached working with Scherzer — and learning from him — differently.

“I can't speak for Max, but for me this time around, we had good conversations about the way he sees things, the way I see things and how that can be beneficial,” Verlander said. “Whether you take one thing or 10 things or something anything from each other to make you more successful, that's what it's about.”

Verlander is 40 and Scherzer is 39. Some of their previous relationship may have had much to do with the small age difference.

“I think we've always been a couple of guys who like to share our opinions with some of the younger guys and try to help them and that's a little weird sometimes when you're both very successful,” Verlander said. “Sometimes those opinions aren't necessarily wanted. Now I think with the different lens that I had for sure — and I'm sure Max would say the same — we just had a mutual appreciation for one another and it wasn't so competitive. That allowed us to have better conversations and learn more about each other just as human beings. We got along very well.”

On Wednesday, the pair probably won’t be as cordial. But that’s competition and a divisional race for you.