Justin Verlander has reached the 20 game plateau for the first time in his career and is the first pitcher in 2011 to reach the feat but, it was his worst start of the year. Listen to this stat line though: 6 innings, 8 hits, 4 runs, 3 BB, and 6 strikeouts. Whats so bad about that? What’s so Un-Dominant about that? Well, it was only the fourth time all year that he’s given up four runs or more. It’s only the second time all year he’s gone just 6.0 innings. Wanna know the crazy part? 6 innings, and 4 runs is called a “Quality Start” for statisticians. So Verlander’s worst start of the year is still considered a quality start? Are we serious right now? This is getting silly. The guy is just making more and more of a case for my fictitious MVP vote.
Justin is just the 5th pitcher in the last 20 years to win 20 games by the end of August. His .878 WHIP would finish as the 8th best single season mark in the Live Ball era (That’s kinda like the batting average for pitchers). Oh, and he currently leads the league in:
- Innings Pitched
- Strikeouts
- Games Started
- Win/Loss %
- Wins
- WHIP
- And Hits/9
The Guy is very simply the best pitcher in the game.
The fact that JV goes out, gives up 4 runs and it’s his worst start of the year is laughable. His dominance on the mound far exceeds anything that any big leaguer really should be doing out there in today’s game of video study, and scouting reports.
Let’s be honest, Mr. Verlander is the most fun guy in the Majors to watch pitch since Mr. Pedro retired.
I’m not going to make the case for him to win the MVP just yet: there’s another month to go in the season. You can watch the lowlight of JV’s start here.
Stat of the Day: Hurricane Irene is as big as Europe. You stay dry Northeast **Anchorman sign off voice**
-Sean Morash
