Detroit Tigers Rumors: Justin Verlander Done As Starting Pitcher With Tigers?
Detroit Tigers rumors again address the fall of Justin Verlander. The Tigers had Verlander on the mound against the Baltimore Orioles on Sunday, July 19, but quickly regretted the decision to tab the veteran for this start. Verlander used 84 pitches to get through just 3 2/3 innings. He allowed seven runs on eight hits, and his ERA ballooned to 6.62 on the season.
Since returning from the disabled list, Verlander has now made six starts, with the Tigers losing all six games. He did have a nice start on July 10 against the Minnesota Twins. In that game, he pitched 7 2/3 innings while giving up just one run on five hits. Outside of that start, though, he has pitched just 26 1/3 innings, giving up 26 runs in the process. That is simply not getting it done on the mound.
The team had been hoping he would bounce back from a rough 2014 MLB season, where he posted a 4.54 ERA and 1.398 WHIP over 32 starts. It wasn’t what a guy making $20 million for the season was expected to do. One thing to focus on with the latest Detroit Tigers rumors, is that the team might not have a lot of options with Justin Verlander. He makes $38 million in each of the next four seasons, with a vested option of $22 million for the 2020 MLB season. To put it bluntly, the Tigers might be stuck paying him for a while.
As previously reported by the Inquisitr, former MVP Miguel Cabrera has been out dealing with another injury, forcing other players to step up in a big way. That hasn’t happened, with the Tigers losing six of the last 10 games. The team has now fallen below a .500 record (45-46) and is currently 10 1/2 games out of first place in the American League Central. This makes the struggles that Verlander has had even worse.
What might soon happen is that the Tigers will realize that the 2015 MLB season has become a lost cause. That could lead to the team trading David Price before the July 31 deadline and the team trying to figure out a plan for the next few seasons. If the team truly falls out of contention, Justin Verlander might get a chance to pitch himself out of these struggles. That could actually be a good thing for the franchise, because he has to prove he is worth the more than $100 million left on his deal. If he still can’t figure things out on the mound, new Detroit Tigers rumors could talk about designating him for assignment.
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