Why Giants' Justin Verlander deserves better from his teammates

Justin Verlander has been a consistent pitcher in 20 seasons in Major League Baseball. 

This season, however, hasn't been too kind for Verlander, who is still searching for his first win as a San Francisco Giants starting pitcher.

The latest loss came against the Miami Marlins in a 4-2 defeat at Oracle Park on Tuesday night. He pitched five innings and gave up five hits and three runs, all earned. 

It doesn't help that his teammates haven't been producing at the plate, but the future Hall of Famer is blaming himself for the latest loss.

“It’s not on them, it’s on me," Verlander said, as shared by the San Francisco Chronicle. "I haven’t put us in a good position. You can’t expect too many wins when you go out there every time and give up three, three-plus runs and don’t go deep in the game, That’s where I need to do better for sure.”

Verlander dropped to 0-5 with a 4.52 ERA in 12 games. He hasn't won a game since Sept. 2024 when he led the Houston Astros to a 4-3 win over the Cleveland Guardians, pitching six innings, according to Baseball Reference.

There is no need for Verlander to blame himself. Maybe he should get on his teammates and tell them to start producing. He has every right to open up, given that he's a veteran, a nine-time All-Star and a two-time World Series champion.

In the games lost, the Giants scored nine runs and were outscored 18-9.

While Verlander said he needs to do better, so do his teammates, who lost games 2-0 and 2-1 when he started. Verlander deserves better than that, especially when the Giants are still in playoff contention near the All-Star break. 

There is nothing wrong with Verlander when he struck out at least 5+ batters in seven starts. He just needs his teammates to start picking him up when he is on the mound.