Astros' Justin Verlander says rash of pitcher injuries is 'a pandemic'

Shane Bieber, Eury Perez, Spencer Strider, Jonathan Loaisiga.

It's been a brutal start to the year for some of the best arms in the Major Leagues as a rash of pitcher injuries has overwhelmed baseball, leading to many asking what the problem is and where the blame could lie.

Houston Astros star Justin Verlander said on Sunday that there isn't a singular reason as to why these injuries have become more frequent, but pointed out that a big factor has been the change in pitching styles in recent years.

"I think the game has changed a lot, it would be easiest to blame the pitch clock but in reality, you put everything together and everything has a bit of influence," Verlander said to KPRC's Ari Alexander after a rehab assignment with the Astros' triple-A minor league affiliate, the Sugar Land Space Cowboys.

"I think the biggest thing is that the style of pitching has changed so much. Everyone is throwing the ball as hard as they possibly can and spinning the ball as hard as they possibly can."

Not even two weeks into the season and three pitchers have had to get Tommy John surgery: Bieber, Perez and Loaisiga. The Braves, meanwhile, await updates on Strider, who was placed on the 10-day IL with elbow inflammation.

Verlander, who is currently rehabbing a shoulder injury, had to get Tommy John surgery in 2020 which led to him missing the better part of the 2020 and 2021 seasons.

"It's a double-edged sword," Verlander added. "How can you tell somebody to not do that when they're capable of throwing 100 m.p.h? Something needs to change."

The three-time Cy Young winner spoke about how the balls in MLB changed in 2016, which led to more fly balls, altered the way that he had to approach pitching. Instead of relying on the defence behind him, he mentions that he opted to go for more swing-and-miss stuff to prevent contact.

"I think that if you throw that in the mix, and analytics in the mix, and pitch-clock in the mix, that it all kind of adds up," Verlander said. "It's unfortunate, I don't know how you rewind the clock."

He would go on to talk about how pitchers have become less incentivized to go deeper into games and go through the opposing team's lineup three times.

It's become more frequent in MLB for managers to pull their pitchers after going through the lineup twice, with analytics saying that players are more prone to giving up runs after seeing batters the third time through.

"The second that you start incentivizing pitchers staying in the game longer, throwing 110 pitches, navigating the lineup, then the trickle-down permeates all the way to Little League baseball," Verlander emphasized. "The second you start incentivizing pitching and guys are getting drafted because they can pitch and get guys out, then that goes down a level and down a level and down a level. I just hope that we don't wait too long."

"It's obviously a pandemic and it's gonna take years to work itself out. ... I can't look at my Instagram feed without seeing some kids trying to learn to throw as hard as they can at 10 years old."

Verlander, 41, has played 18 seasons in MLB, racking up one of the most storied careers in baseball. He's the last pitcher (other than Shohei Ohtani) to take home the AL MVP, doing so in 2011 after pitching a league-leading 251 innings to the tune of a 2.40 ERA.