Astros pitcher Justin Verlander has made it clear how he feels about the most important item in the game, and it’s clear he’s not happy with the league about it.
Verlander, numerous times in the past, has stated that he believes baseballs are juiced. The 2019 season has seen a dramatic uptick in home runs, like we’ve never seen before. MLB is on pace to have 6,688 home runs this season, compared to 2017, when only 6,105 were produced.
And with JV being named the starting pitcher for the American League in the All-Star Game, he took full advantage of the platform he was given, teeing off on MLB commissioner Rob Manfred and the league in a rant for the ages on Monday.
“It’s a f—ing joke,” Verlander said, via ESPN’s Jeff Passan. “Major League Baseball’s turning this game into a joke. They own Rawlings, and you’ve got Manfred up here saying it might be the way they center the pill. They own the f—ing company. If any other $40 billion company bought out a $400 million company and the product changed dramatically, it’s not a guess as to what happened. We all know what happened. Manfred the first time he came in, what’d he say? He said we want more offense. All of a sudden he comes in, the balls are juiced? It’s not coincidence. We’re not idiots.”
He does raise some great points, and it’s fair to wonder if the balls really are being juiced.
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