SF Giants veteran Justin Verlander gives cryptic response on physical issues

Veteran SF Giants pitcher Justin Verlander did not have his best outing on Sunday against the A's. He attributed that to a physical issue, but he did not give any further detail on what was limiting him in his relatively brief outing.

The 42-year-old pitched four innings and surrended two earned runs on three hits and five walks while only striking out one batter. His velocity was down a bit compared to where it has been earlier this season, and when asked about it after the game he spoke of a physical issue in a cryptic manner:

SF Giants veteran Justin Verlander evades question on physical issues

In the video, Verlander says, "I was dealing with something physically that the team was aware of... clearly it was kind of affecting my velocity and mechanics." When asked if he could elaborate any further, he said he would rather not.

The veteran said he thinks he will be able to make his next start and that he did not think pitching through whatever he was dealing with was going to put him at risk for injury, but it is still not a great sign that he is dealing with some sort of physical issue.

Of course, pitchers have to deal with and pitch through physical ailments all the time. Last season, it was reported that Giants work horse Logan Webb was having to pitch through some physical limitations, so this is not an uncommon thing.

The reason alarm bells may go off is because Verlander is 42 and his body is not going to recover the same way that it used to. One hopes it is a relatively minor issue that does not impact him, but at this stage of his career small ailments can turn into big ones fairly quickly.

Luckily, if Verlander did have to miss a start the Giants have Kyle Harrison in their bullpen who could be called upon to start for them. Harrison has been a starter for basically his whole professional career so it is a role he is very accustomed to.

It is ironic that back in spring training Harrison's velocity was down as he was dealing with some physical ailments while Verlander was lighting up the radar gun. That just shows how things can change in a relatively short amount of time.

Although we do not know exactly what Verlander is dealing with, let's hope it is nothing too serious and that he can pitch unencumbered going forward. His starts have looked better as of late so it would be a shame if he had to miss a start or go on the IL right as he seemed like he had found his stride on the mound.