Justin Verlander scared the crap out of everyone in Tigers Nation when he was forced to leave his last start after just one inning, and then revealed after the game that he has been dealing with shoulder inflammation for several weeks.
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A DL trip is likely in the offing for Verlander, but in the meantime the pitcher says he will continue seeking opinions about the shoulder from various specialists who have been given access to his medical scans (via Beck’s Blog):
"“I’m going to get other opinions. Whether I need to go visit [more specialists] or not, I don’t know,” he said. “The more minds you put together to look at something, the better. Hopefully they all come back and say, ‘Hey, that’s what we see, too.’ If they say, ‘Hey, maybe you want to come in and get evaluated,’ OK, I might be willing to [make a visit].”"
Verlander says that scans of his shoulder show no more structural damage than you would expect from a pitcher who has been in the league for ten years. In other words, the shoulder is pretty much shredded but that’s just how it goes for aging hurlers.
It’s been a rough year all-around for Verlander, who currently sports a 10-11 record, 4.76 ERA and, perhaps most alarmingly, 1.424 WHIP. A swelling WHIP and declining K-to-BB ratio tend to indicate a pitcher who is simply wearing down, and that appears to be the case with Verlander.
It’s not that Verlander can’t still be a good pitcher, because he can still be a good pitcher, but it’s likely we’ve seen the last of the dominating Verlander we came to know and love from 2009-2012. It’s time for Verlander to enter his late-Tanana stage, using guile to overcome diminished stuff.
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