SF Giants are now facing an uncomfortable reality with Justin Verlander

The SF Giants were embarrassed last night against the Athletics in Sacramento on the Fourth of July. Starting pitcher Justin Verlander pitched poorly and the team is now facing an uncomfortable reality with the 42-year-old.

In three innings, Verlander gave up six earned runs on seven hits and one walk. He himself said that he was easy to hit and characterized the outing as embarrassing. His ERA on the season is now 4.84 and he has still yet to record a win in 14 starts while the Giants are now 4-10 in games he starts.

SF Giants may be nearing tough decision with Justin Verlander

Verlander's tenure with the Giants is beginning to look very similar to Randy Johnson's when the Big Unit played the final season of his Hall of Fame career in San Francisco and struggled to the tune of a 4.88 ERA.

The knee-jerk reaction may be to demand the Giants release him, but it is not quite that simple. The Giants are still ostensibly a team in contention for the playoffs even if they have looked like a far cry from that as of late.

Maybe if the team was 10 games under .500 and already looking towards next year they could trade Verlander or cut him and try out one of their younger pitchers in the rotation. But with the Giants still a factor in the National League playoff picture, they cannot really do that.

After the Giants traded away Kyle Harrison and Jordan Hicks in the Rafael Devers trade, they do not have the same starting pitching depth they once had. The move has really forced them to rely upon Verlander even more which has not paid dividends thus far.

While Verlander has been far from perfect, he has had good outings for the team and has simply had some bad luck with the team blowing saves or the offense not getting him run support. Still, it is hard to have complete trust that the veteran, despite being a lock for Cooperstown, is going to find his form coming down the stretch especially at this stage of his career.

Despite all this, it is hard to argue that Mason Black, Carson Seymour, or Carson Whisenhunt would be an improvement in the rotation. All three are unproven young arms that have certainly shown promise, but Verlander does have experience even if his body is not what it once was.

The Giants were not expecting Verlander to be dominant when they signed him, but they now find themselves in an uncomfortable reality where they are relying on him to figure things out even though that seems like a bit of a pipe dream at this point.

If the struggles continue though, the Giants may have no other choice than to get rid of the veteran as they try to ensure the five best starters in the organization are in the rotation.