Giants Veteran Starter Blames Himself for Not Putting Team in a 'Good Position'

The San Francisco Giants have had an outstanding first few months of their 2025 season, looking like one of the most competitive versions the team has seen in quite some time.

Their pitching staff has been a large reason for this, as it has rapidly improved from previous seasons and found a huge string of momentum. With a 44-35 record, the team is on a good pace for the postseason, and while their recent sets of series have not been exceptional, they are maintaining second place in the National League West.

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The difficult part has been some of their offseason acquisitions not quite living up to expectations yet, one of which being Justin Verlander, who, through his first 12 starts with the team, has an 0-5 record tied to his name. There have only been four seasons in Verlander's career where he has gone under .500 as a starter; those are 2005 (his rookie season, only two starts), 2008, 2015, and 2024.

He has not been particularly bad either, but he has not shown those flashes of his elite level of pitching either. In 61.2 innings, he has a 4.52 ERA, 1.411 WHIP, 52 strikeouts to 23 walks, an 85 ERA+ and nine home runs allowed. With -0.3 bWAR, he definitely has room to improve, and he recognizes it.

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What Did Justin Verlander Have to Say About His Lack of Wins This Season?

In a recent media appearance after his latest start, Verlander had the following to say about his lack of wins so far in 2025 (video provided by KNBR):

"It's not on them, it's on me, I haven't put us in a good position. Y'know, obviously there was a couple times early in the year, but you can't expect to get any wins when you go out there every time and give up three plus runs and don't go deep into games. So, that's where I need to do better, for sure."

In his 20th season with a game started, Verlander is trying to find the momentum he once had again, and it has been a bit difficult to come by throughout the first few months of the season.

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The good news is he has allowed three or fewer earned runs over his last five starts, so he is at least being reliable at times. With a six-inning long outing against the Arizona Diamondbacks on June 12, where he only allowed two earned runs, he found his stride a bit. It is just about maintaining that level of success over multiple starts.

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