What’s Up With Our Ace?

We have seen the hitting come around(although not present tonight), so what is wrong with Justin Verlander?  Although he had a good outing through 7 innings in Chicago on April 12, he has not been the dominant pitcher he can be in most of his starts.  The Tigers need him to find his rhythm and get that explosive fastball moving and fooling opposing hitters. 

Forget that the Tigers lost 11-1 tonight!  Verlander gave up 5 runs in his 5 innings of work which enough for the Tribe to get the win.  Our number 1 starter is 0-3!  You have to wonder what’s bothering him whether it is a physical ailment or a mental block.  Something has him off his game, and he is leading the league in hit batsmen including two tonight!  Somehow the Indians thought it was intentional as the pitch that hit Gary Sheffield had all the looks of a payback, but we know that Justin did not intend to hit either Ryan Garko or Jason Michaels. 

I don’t have any confidence when Verlander or Kenny Rogers takes the mound these days.  Rogers will take an 0-3 record to the hill in Toronto tomorrow night, and I hope he will find his groove, but his 6.75 ERA going into this game has me nervous.  Just like the Tiger batters, you have to believe that their one and two starters will give this team the quality starts they need.