Apparently, Houston Astros ace Justin Verlander still has some beef with members of the Detroit media. Especially a Tigers reporter.
The Astros denied Detroit Free Press writer Anthony Fenech the opportunity to attend Verlander's postgame media scrum after the Tigers defeated Verlander and the Astros on Wednesday night, and Verlander later tweeted that Fenech had exhibited “unethical behavior” in prior reporting:
I declined to speak with the @freep rep last night because of his unethical behavior in the past. I reached out to the @freep multiple times before the game to notify them why and to give them an opportunity to have someone else there. Ironically they didn’t answer.
— Justin Verlander (@JustinVerlander) August 22, 2019
However, the Detroit Free Press has disputed Verlander's statement that he reached out to multiple editors, and the MLB issued a statement declaring that the Astros should have allowed Fenech to attend Verlander's media session, and that they in fact were in violation of the MLB collective bargaining agreement:
The Houston Astros violated the MLB collective bargaining agreement on Wednesday when they blocked a @freep reporter from interviewing pitcher Justin Verlander after his loss to the Tigers in Houston, @MLB confirms. https://t.co/L9mzxcI8HP
— Detroit Free Press (@freep) August 22, 2019
"Per our Club-Media Regulations, the reporter should have been allowed to enter the clubhouse postgame at the same time as the other members of the media," MLB vice president of communications Mike Teevan said in a statement today. "We have communicated this to the Astros."
— Detroit Free Press (@freep) August 22, 2019
Fenech first became the beat writer for the Tigers in 2015, which was at the tail end of Verlander's tenure in Detroit. Although Verlander clearly has a stated issue with Fenech in particular, it is unknown what kind of possibly “unethical” behavior or reporting that Verlander is referring to with respect to Fenech's work.
Verlander pitched for the Tigers from 2005 to 2017, winning the 2011 AL Cy Young and MVP Awards while leading the majors in wins (24), strikeouts (250), ERA+ (172) and WHIP (0.920).
Though Verlander could not quite recapture his ace form in his final years in Detroit, his arrival in Houston at the waiver deadline in 2017 put the Astros over the top en route to their first championship in franchise history.
Since coming to the Astros, Verlander has a 2.51 ERA, 0.841 WHIP and 12.1 K/9 in 66 starts. This season, he leads the majors in strikeouts (239) and WHIP (0.806), and is a leading candidate to win his second Cy Young Award.
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