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Justin Verlander Sends Clear Message to Umpires After Giants’ Loss to D-Backs

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Jake Elman | Last updated May 16, 2025 9:48 AM ET

After spending over two decades on MLB mounds, San Francisco Giants pitcher Justin Verlander is arguably the most qualified big-leaguer to opine on umpires’ strike zones.

Unsurprisingly, at least for anyone who has watched baseball games recently, Verlander isn’t exactly thrilled with how umpires currently call balls and strikes.

During a recent interview with the Mercury News, the 42-year-old Verlander blasted commissioner Rob Manfred and the sport’s higher-ups over the strike zone. Verlander said the league did not properly convey rule changes to pitchers, despite MLB officials saying they notified all 30 managers at December’s Winter Meetings.

“There’s a lack of trust and a lack of communication,” Verlander admitted.

According to The Athletic, Major League Baseball and the Umpires Association recently decreased the two-inch zone during their latest labor agreement. The change came so that Major League Baseball could better evaluate its umpires.

“The league said they notified everybody, and everybody said, ‘We never heard anything,’” Verlander said.

“They talked to all the people that were supposed to be notified, and none of them had heard anything,” the three-time Cy Young winner added. “So, somebody’s lying.”

Unfortunately for both MLB and the umpires’ union, some X/Twitter users have also found ways to evaluate umpires. Umpire Auditor regularly provides video proof of the most egregious umpire performances.

Umpire Adrian Johnson called the worst game of the season so far.

He missed 17 calls in the first 5.5 innings and 13 went against the Twins. When Rocco Baldelli complained, he was ejected.

Johnson missed 22 calls in the game and had a season's worst correct call rate of 83.1%. pic.twitter.com/HzjFwWSrOp
— Umpire Auditor (@UmpireAuditor) May 11, 2025

Fans also flock to the Umpire Scorecard account, which shares every home plate umpire’s performance based on the league’s ideal strike zone. For example, Umpire Scorecards found that Nick Mahrley correctly called 203 of 208 pitches (97.5%) during the Giants’ 8-7 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks on Wednesday.

In fact, all three home plate umpires during this week’s Giants-Diamondbacks series—Mahrley, Edwin Jiménez (May 13), and Nic Lentz (May 14)—had an accuracy rating of at least 96.6%.

Although Major League Baseball tested the Automated Ball-Strike System in spring training, it is unclear if the league will implement it later this season or during the playoffs.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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