Justin Verlander doesn’t think there’s any one factor in the “pandemic” of MLB pitchers suffering serious arm injuries.
After making a rehab start for the Astros’ Triple-A affiliate on Sunday, Verlander was asked about the years-long rash of pitching injuries by Ari Alexander, a reporter for NBC’s Houston affiliate.
“The biggest thing is the style of pitching has changed so much.
Everybody is throwing as hard as they possibly can and spinning the ball as hard as they possibly can.
It’s hard to deny those results, obviously.” “It’s a double-edged sword,” Verlander continued.
“That changed how I had to approach pitching,” Verlander said.
Maybe there’s some way to incentivize starting pitchers going deeper in games,” Verlander said.
“It’s a pandemic and it’s going to take years to work itself out.”
According to Justin Verlander, there is no single cause for the “pandemic” of major arm injuries that MLB pitchers are experiencing.
Astros Triple-A affiliate pitcher Verlander was questioned by NBC’s Houston affiliate reporter Ari Alexander regarding the team’s years-long history of pitching injuries on Sunday, following his rehab start.
“I believe there have been significant changes to the game. It would be most convenient to place the blame on the pitch clock, but when you add everything up, everything has some effect, according to Verlander.
“The most significant change has been in the pitching style. Throwing and spinning the ball with all of their might is being displayed by all of them. Those results are, of course, difficult to dispute. “.
“That’s a two-edged sword,” Verlander went on.
“You know they can throw 100 [miles per hour], how can you go out there and tell them not to do that?”.
Spencer Strider of the Braves may be close to Guardians star Shane Bieber, who suffered a season-ending injury just last week.
“I don’t have all the answers,” Verlander went on, connecting the .s between the 2016 MLB launch of new baseballs and the velocity pressures placed on pitchers.
That altered Verlander’s approach to pitching, he said.
“You needed to start saying to the batter, ‘I want to swing and miss.'”. Put the ball in play is not possible. “.
Reiterating that the elevated mindset of needing to blow it past batters has contributed to the pitching injuries, Verlander made it clear that he was not making excuses because everyone is competing on a “level playing field.”.
It is regrettable. How we turn back time is beyond me. “Perhaps there exists a means to encourage starting pitchers to pitch later in games,” Verlander remarked.
He revealed that he and Max Scherzer, who shared the mound with the Mets the previous season, devised a scheme in which teams forfeit their designated hitter in the event that they remove the starting pitcher before reaching specific “milestones,” such as going through the opposition’s lineup three times or completing a predetermined number of pitches.
Verlander expressed his wish that they wouldn’t have to wait too long.
It’s a pandemic, and it will take years for things to get better. “.
