Daddy’s cheerleaders! Kate Upton took her 3-year-old daughter, Genevieve, to support Justin Verlander at the MLB All-Star Game Red Carpet.
“Can I just take a moment and brag about my husband? 😍,” Upton, 30, captioned a couple of Instagram snapshots from the Tuesday, July 19, event. “Justin had TJ surgery and had to step away from playing for almost two years. He has put in so much work to be where he is today. … He is continuing to break records and hit new milestones in his career. It was so fun having the family together to support Justin at his 9th All-Star experience. I am so proud of you @justinverlander! ❤️.”
The 39-year-old Astros pitcher underwent Tommy John surgery in October 2020, a procedure that replaces an arm’s torn ligament with a healthy tendon extracted from an arm or leg. He returned to the pitching mound in April 2022, telling MLB.com it felt like he was back at his “happy place.”
In the photos from Tuesday’s event, Verlander rocked a gold suit while his wife donned a white, one-sleeved minidress and strappy heels. Genevieve, for her part, held her parents’ hands in a yellow dress.
The Sports Illustrated Swimsuit model and athlete met on the set of a commercial for the Major League Baseball 2K12 video game in February 2012 and went public with their romance the following January. Despite breaking up later that year, the couple reunited in January 2014 and got married in Italy in November 2017, just three days after Verlander won the MLB championship series.
The baseball player opened up to Us Weekly about the wedding in March 2018, joking about the sheer gown Upton changed into for the reception. “The second I saw her in that, I was like, ‘OK, time to go. Let’s get out of here. Wedding over!’” he said. That November, the happy couple welcomed Genevieve, or “Vivi,” to the world.
“She’s been the most amazing woman and mom,” Verlander told Us of the Other Woman actress in March 2019. “I knew that she would set a great example for our daughter, no matter what. It’s the person that she is, it’s the person who I married. I’ve always appreciated her for her strength.”
He continued, “But just seeing her interact, all the nurturing and everything that goes on with being a mother, it’s been tremendous to watch. I know it’s not easy for her either, but it’s quite a connection that they have, and it’s really special for me to be able to witness that and be a part of it.”
Upton, for her part, has placed her daughter at the center of her world since becoming a mom. “[Motherhood has] changed my entire perspective,” she said during a November 2020 appearance on Today. “Everything I do is for her, wanting to make the world better for her, wanting to be better for her.”
