Justin Verlander's struggles have continued into spring training. In four starts (13 1/3 innings) he has a 6.08 ERA and 1.28 WHIP with only eight strikeouts. It got worse for him on Friday.
The right-hander pulled from his start today with cramps in his right triceps muscle, according to Jason Beck of MLB.com. He'll be re-evaluated tomorrow and is expected to make his final spring training start next week, but this isn't good news for the team or for Verlander.
"I don't really know what to tell you, besides I just felt crampy," the former AL MVP and Cy Young winner told Beck. "My whole body just kind of feels tight. I think it was a combination of things. I think with the mechanical adjustments I made, I might be using my muscles just slightly different. And also, I don't think I hydrated myself as well as I should have today."
If it's merely a cramp, he should be good to go next week. If it's a lingering issue then he probably won't be ready for the start of the regular season. But as we saw with the case of Texas Rangers starter Yu Darvish, it could be much, much worse.
Darvish exited his start on March 5 after just one inning because of tightness in his right triceps. The tightness was discovered during a bullpen session and then lingered into his start. After being examined by the team's orthopedist, the right-hander was scheduled for an MRI, which revealed a partial tear in his UCL. After receiving multiple opinions on the injury, Darvish opted to undergo Tommy John surgery and will now miss the entire 2015 season.
Additionally, Darvish dealt with minor elbow inflammation in 2014, which likely played a role in his injury.
This may not be the exact case with Verlander, but it's something to consider. The 32-year-old has a lot of mileage on his odometer, having pitched at least 200 innings in each of the past eight seasons, including 240 in 2009, 251 in 2011 and 238 in 2012. Last season he had his worst campaign since 2008 after going 15-12 with a 4.54 ERA and 1.398 WHIP in 32 starts (206 innings). He struck out only 159 of the 893 batters he faced, which was especially low compared to the past five seasons (an average of 238.8 per year).
According to Anthony Fenech of the Detroit Free Press, Verlander has never been placed on the disabled list in his 10 MLB seasons. We'll provide an update following his evaluation tomorrow.
UPDATE: Verlander said his triceps feel better after playing catch on Sunday morning, but it's unclear when he'll pitch next, according to ESPN's Jayson Stark.
