OT: Verlander and his decline

Submitted by NFG on
After watching him throw today, I feel as if his best days are far behind him. No longer is he dominant, with accuracy and blazing speed. His curveball is inconsistent at best. Why and how could he have fallen so far from grace? Dare I say it may be an off the field distraction? /s
MGoBoard
Baseball/Softball

JamieH

July 6th, 2015 at 10:15 AM ^

Yeah, Fangraphs says the problem is that his fastball is just gone.  And it went with his velocity. 

As of 2011, he had an utterly elite fastball, along with a really great curve and change.  Back then he averaged 95 MPH.  As of 2012 the fastball was still really good as was the curve, though the change wasn't as effective.

Starting in 2013 the fastball became very average, and the effectiveness of his other pitches started suffering.  He compensated some with his slider, but the curve and change were no longer useful without the dominating fastball.

Last year the fastball dropped even more (down to 93.1 MPH now) and became a BELOW average fastball and with it, his curveball started getting HAMMERED.  The only pitch that registered as above average for him was his slider.

This year he's only had a few starts, but none of his pitches are registering as above average.  And his average fastball velocity is still down.  That isn't a good sign.  Unless he learns a new way to pitch or magically regains his velocity, he may never "come back".  Looking at the numbers, he needs his fastball to average around 94+ to be effective.  Right now, he's averaging 92.8.

The question is, is the loss in velocity just age, or his arm, or is it the other injuries he has had and once he eventually gets everything healthy again and working together right, can he put it all together?

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