In the early moments of Thursday night's game against the Astros, Justin Verlander looked unhittable, mowing down the first six Sox in order with four strikeouts. The first hit of the night came off the unlikely bat of Omar Narvaez, a smash single to right that was the catcher's third-hardest hit of the season, with an exit velocity of 101.7 mph. The first Sox run of the night also came courtesy of Narvaez, a home run to left in his next at-bat. This got me thinking: which players throughout MLB have fared well against Justin Verlander over the course of his career?
That thought inspired today's Sporcle. I know, I know: this is a departure from the usual Sox-centric quiz, but I promise we'll be back to business next week. And besides, there are Sox players on this list. So, here's the deal: of the players who have at least 40 plate appearances (SSS alert!) against Verlander in their careers, which have logged an OPS of at least .800? How many can you name? Good luck!
Quiz Parameters
- I've allotted 10 minutes for completion attempts.
- For hints I've provided the OPS, the team(s) the player was on when facing Verlander, and their position.
Useless information to amaze, annoy, confound, and/or confuse your friends:
- That average triple-slash is looking pretty pretty good: .317/.383/.574
- Alex Gordon has faced Verlander the most of any player in the majors, with 112 plate appearances. He did not make this list with an OPS of .603...
- ...But the dubious honor of lowest OPS goes to Mark Teixeira, with a feckless .320. His triple-slash: an ugly .070/.180/.140.
All data from baseballreference.com
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