A Tale Of Two Pitchers

Last night in Cleveland, two struggling young All-Stars took the hill to try to get their 2008 campaigns back on the right foot. As the graph below shows, only one succeeded.

Fausto Carmona was able to throw strikes for the first time all year, finding positive results by getting his “turbo sinker” over the plate and inducing ground ball outs. This was the Carmona that Indians fans got used to last year and were counting on for the upcoming season.

However, Justin Verlander wasn’t as lucky. As we documented the other day, he’s lost quite a bit of velocity on his fastball this year, which has hurt him quite a bit. The trend continued tonight, as he sat between 89-93 with his now hittable fastball and even added a new wrinkle – an inability to throw strikes. His line for the night: 5 innings, 7 hits, 5 runs, 4 walks, 2 hit batters, and 1 strikeout.

This goes beyond theories of Detroit wanting him to throw more two seam fastballs or getting him to throw slower to make it through an entire season – there’s something wrong with him right now. He’s not pitching at 80% effort, then dialing it up to an extra gear when he needs it – he’s just throwing 92 MPH fastballs and occasionally hitting the strike zone. After tonight’s performance, he now boasts a 7.03 ERA supported by 12 walks and 14 strikeouts in 24 1/3 innings. It’s no longer early for Justin Verlander – Detroit should be legitimately worried about their ace. If they can’t get him throwing 95 with regularity again, getting trounced by Cleveland could become a regular occurrence.