Houston Astros pitcher Justin Verlander stands with his teammates at the start of their first spring training workout of the season last Thursday in West Palm Beach, Fla. (AP photo)

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — As Justin Verlander reaches his 37th birthday, Houston’s ace evolves to maintain the skills that allowed him to win his second Cy Young Award last season, eight years after he won the first one.

Verlander, who turned 37 today, talked about aging this week as he prepares for his 16th Major League Baseball season.

“The end goal is just to continue to adapt and try to be successful and fight this age thing,” he said. “You can’t just keep doing the same stuff. Your body changes as you get older and you need to adapt and do things a little bit differently to try stay on top of your game.”

Verlander was able to do that last season when he led the majors with 21 wins and his 2.58 ERA ranked second in the American League. He won the AL Cy Young Award for the first time since 2011, when he also was MVP.

Verlander led the majors with 223 innings, his most since 2012, and his 34 starts tied for the most in the league. he became just the sixth pitcher to throw three no-hitters.

“It’s hard to be that successful for that long without working exceptionally hard and being exceptionally strong mentally,” new Astros manager Dusty Baker said.

Though Verlander always hoped to have a long career, there was a time where he wondered if he’d even pitch into his mid-30s. He was hurt in 2014 at age 31 and didn’t feel like himself.