At age 39, after nearly two years off the field, Justin Verlander has learned to be a better teammate.

A member of the Astros who asked not to be identified, lest anyone draw the conclusion he did not think Verlander was a good teammate in the past, said the right-handed ace is more engaged in the clubhouse environment than he was prior to undergoing Tommy John surgery in 2020. More accessible. More one of the guys. More part of the whole.

When I asked Verlander his reaction to that assessment, he guessed, with a smile, that catcher Martín Maldonado was the person who talked about his seeming transformation. It wasn’t Maldonado, I said. But then I thought, “Who would have a better perception of a starting pitcher than his catcher?”

“Those two years he was out, he (learned) how much he missed it, how difficult it is to be away from the game,” said Maldonado, who has spent much of the past five seasons with the Astros. “Overall, he’s a totally different guy from ’18-’19.”

Verlander acknowledged he indeed is mixing more with teammates, but not simply because he missed nearly all of the shortened 2020 season and entire 2021 campaign due to an elbow injury that resulted in Tommy John surgery. He also credits his wife, model Kate Upton, and their daughter, Genevieve, 3, for helping him gain a broader perspective. Genevieve — “Vivi,” for short — “cracked me wide open,” Verlander said.

“He’s way better,” Maldonado said. “I don’t think he was a bad person in the past. But I think he’s more open to helping young guys, helping the team, having team dinners, constant communication. I think (he’s different) in a big way, a good way.”

Said Verlander, whose major-league career began in 2005: “I’m maturing with age and understanding the way I see things isn’t the way everybody else sees things. As a matter of fact, it’s quite the opposite,” he said. “I’m trying to do a better job listening to people, trying to communicate better, talking with my wife a lot about our daughter and having a little girl and wanting to be able to communicate with her on a deep level.

“It started me on a path of trying to learn how to be more communicative with everyone around me. The first step is probably listening better. It makes me a better communicator, which probably makes me a better teammate.”

To the Astros, whose 78-45 record is the best in the American League, Verlander’s impact in the clubhouse is not nearly as important as his impact on the mound. Entering his start against the Twins on Tuesday night, Verlander’s major-league-best 1.95 ERA is one of the season’s most stunning developments, making him a front-runner for his third AL Cy Young Award. But to Verlander, the same principles apply on and off the field. In every aspect of his life, he’s always trying to get better.

“I put a lot of work into myself, not just pitching,” he said.

His search for improvement as a pitcher was perhaps most vividly demonstrated by his incorporation of the Astros’ analytically driven approach after joining the team in a trade from the Tigers on Aug. 31, 2017. Upton, whom he married in November of that year, said his natural inquisitiveness carries over into his personal life, too.