how come justin verlander can not strikeout more batters then he normally does?

Question

he has a great fastball, nasty curve and change up

Answer 1

Verlander throws hard but his fastball is flat and without movement and he doesn't always have control of his curveball. Hitters can sit on the fastball if he is not getting the curveball over the plate and can make contact with the flat fastball. He still may not give up a lot of hits and runs but he won't get the strikeouts you would think he should have because of how hard he throws. He still is a very good pitcher and will get better over the next few years.

Answer 2

Not really sure what you mean here. In 4 of his last 5 starts he has struck more batters than innings pitched. For a pitcher, anytime you do that, it is something special. Also, he is on the same strikeout pace this year as he was last year. In 2006, he struck out 124 batters in 186.0 innings pitched. This year (1/3 of the way through the season) he has struck out 50 batters in 68.0 innings. If you do the math, those numbers are pretty similar. Verlander's problem is not the strikeout numbers, it's just that he sometimes looses his control and starts walking too many batters. For example, in his last 2 starts he has walked 7 batters in 11 innings pitched. That's not too hot, you know? (Just a side note to your original question, he has also struck out 11 batters in those 11 innings as well). Hope this gives you a little better understanding of Justin Verlander.

Answer 3

He is capable of striking out a batter almost anytime he needs a K, the difference this year is he has started to learn how to "pitch". Last year he didnt understand the impotance of pitching rather than throwing so he racked up a ton of K's but didnt always accomplish the most important goals. All the best pitchers pitch to contact in most situations, they pitch to a spot that the hitter will swing but set up defensively for that particular pitch and try to record easy outs. First of all it keeps the defensive players sharp, shortens the game and limits the amount of pitches he needs to get outs. The fewer pitches he can throw the further into games he can pitch and it saves wear on the arm over the long haul. If the situation calls for an important K he still does a good job of delivering in those situations and still does record about a K per inning which is very good. I agree with you, he has great stuff (in fact a poll of the major league scouts rated his fastball as the hardest to hit in the majors this spring...Sporting News, early spring). But now he is taking the all important next step from thrower to pitcher...he can be a very good top of the rotation pitcher for a long time once he masters that part of his game.

Answer 4

last year, he was just trying to get through a 200 inning season. he never pitched more than about 75 innings in any year prior to that. this year, he knows better how to pace himself to have an amr still attached to his body in the post season...lol.

as far as K's, i think he is above average, and doing better than last year. bonderman is the class act of strikeouts per inning, though...he punches out 7-10 every 6-inning outing so far.

Answer 5

he is young and doesnt know how to pitch yet

Answer 6

he's not himself