Justin Verlander’s 3-word message on increased pitcher injuries

Pitcher injuries have gotten a bit out of control in recent years as multiple star athletes are missing games. For whatever reason, more and more pitchers are suffering injuries right now. Now, Houston Astros star, Justin Verlander, described the situation with just three words.

Verlander claimed “It’s a pandemic” when asked about the slew of pitcher injuries going on in the MLB, according to Ari Alexander of Click 2 Houston. Considering we’ve seen Spencer Strider, Eury Perez, Shane Bieber, and numerous other big-name pitchers fall to injury, it’s hard to ignore the Astros star pitcher. Justin Verlander explained his thought process more clearly.

“I think the biggest thing is that the style of pitching has changed so much. You know, everybody’s throwing as hard as they possibly can, and, spinning the ball as hard as they possibly can. You know, it’s hard to deny those results, obviously. How can you? It’s a double-edged sword.”

It’s not entirely clear why there is an uptick in pitcher injuries lately. The MLBPA recently called out the MLB over reducing the pitching clock, as it’s believed the clock is preventing pitchers from properly resting in between pitches. That’s something Justin Verlander touched on as well as a possible theory.

On top of that, there are many who believe the tack ban is causing injuries as well. The removal of sticky stuff has resulted in pitchers gripping the ball differently. In fact, an old video of Tyler Glasnow explaining how the tack ban potentially played a part in his injury is resurfacing due to the multitude of injuries in the league. Here’s what he had to say about it from three years ago.