5 years agoIn what has been an exceptional season so far for 36-year-old Houston Astros pitcher Justin Verlander, the past month showed some vulnerability for the ace. Verlander entered the month of June with a season-long ERA of 2.27. He then went on to allow 18 earned runs, including 10 home runs, across six starts and 40 1/3 innings in June. He still did a solid job of minimizing baserunners, with a WHIP under 1.00 in the month, but the power numbers against him this year are becoming more and more of a concern. He leads the majors in home runs allowed with 23 on the year. His 8.6% barrel rate against in 2019 is a significant increase from his 6.2% mark in 2018. Verlander's season-long numbers are still elite. He's 10-3 with a 2.86 ERA and 0.79 WHIP with a 32.1% strikeout rate. Verlander owners really shouldn't be too concerned. He may have dropped below Max Scherzer and Chris Sale and maybe a few other elite pitchers lately, but he's still about as good as they come and should be started with confidence every time out.--Andrew Ericksen - RotoBaller
Source: ESPN