It's crazy how quickly some of baseball's elite pitchers can drop off. Let's go back to some place between 2009 and 2010; not even five years ago. Who were baseball's best starting pitchers? Johan Santana? The guy that is in Triple-A right now? Roy Halladay? The guy that had to retire soon after he threw a playoff no-hitter? Tim Lincecum? The guy that has no-hit the San Diego Padres in each of the past two seasons but has done next to nothing impressive otherwise?
There may not be a position that has a changing of the guard more frequently than the starting pitcher position. Coaches rely on these ace pitchers to frequently throw 100 pitches per game, adding up to thousands and thousands of pitches each year. These pitchers are, after all, human and cannot continue such high levels of success year after year of wear and tear.
One such pitcher that has come under scrutiny recently is Detroit Tigers ace Justin Verlander.
Verlander won the Cy Young Award and even American League MVP in 2011 before pitching another dominant season in 2012. He struggled through 2013 before looking more dominant than ever down the stretch in September and in Detroit's run to the American League Championship Series.
Due to his resurgence in late 2013 and his stellar performance in early 2014, baseball fans seemed to form the opinion that he was back to his old self.
Unfortunately, Verlander would fall into another slump. In fact, he is now 6-7 on the season, with a 4.82 ERA and a 1.51 WHIP. Definitely nothing close to what anyone had expected from JV. To make matters worse, in a span from May 14 through June 16, Verlander gave up less than five earned runs in just one of seven starts.
His start in Cleveland on June 21, however, may have been a turning point. The Tiger righthander went seven innings only allowing two earned runs while striking out eight Indians. This was just the second time all year that Verlander tallied eight strikeouts: the first since April 12. His fastball velocity was up again and his command seemed to be back.
We know that Verlander still has it in him. He did not give up more than three earned runs in any of his first eight starts this season and he showed that he was capable of bouncing back from a bumpy 2013. There is no doubt that he can bounce back from another bump in the road this season.
Do yourself a favor and trade for Verlander. Not only can you rely on him produce for you, his slump will probably cause whoever owns him in your league to sell him for a much lower price.