DETROIT — The Detroit Tigers locked up Justin Verlander with a $180 million extension prior to last season that lasts through 2019. The way Verlander is pitching lately, that signing increasingly looks like a long-term albatross.
The former Cy Young Award winner has been battered regularly for over a month, and his outing Monday against the division rival Kansas City Royals was his worst of the season. He gave up seven runs for his second straight start and allowed a season-high 12 hits in six innings. Verlander was booed heavily as he walked off the mound.
“Fans are frustrated and so am I,” he said. “That’s part of the game. They’ve cheered me plenty and they have the right to boo because they’re frustrated. If I was sitting in the stands, I’d probably boo myself today, too. But I will get better and they’ll cheer me again.”
Verlander’s four-pitch repertoire isn’t fooling anybody. He has given up at least five runs in six of his last seven outings, raising his season ERA to 4.98. He had a 2.67 ERA in mid-May prior to the arguably the worst stretch of his career.
“Frustrating? Yes. End of the world? No,” Verlander said. “You’ve got to keep your eye on the big picture. Every athlete throughout the course of their career is going to go through ups and downs. It’s a matter of how you come out of them, not what happens while you’re in it.”
Location has been a problem, as has lack of movement on his fastball. Ex-teammate Omar Infante pounded a fastball in the middle of the strike zone for a three-run homer on Monday and designated hitter Billy Butler did the same for a three-run double.
A perennial challenger for the league lead in strikeouts, Verlander has fanned four or fewer batters in eight of his outings. That has to alarm a front office that is paying Verlander to anchor the staff for another 5 1/2 seasons.
At least outwardly, Verlander doesn’t believe he’s in decline.
“It’s been a rough time for me the past month or so but there’s nothing you can do but stay confident,” he said. “You look at my stuff, it’s still there. I’m not throwing 100 MPH in the ninth inning right now, but you look at a bunch of other pitchers in the league, I’m still there stuff-wise.”