Who is to blame for a $86 million player consistently failing to deliver this season? When a star player underperforms, fingers are pointed at everyone, from the player to the team management. The New York Mets placed the bet on the 40-year-old Justin Verlander, for which they are under scrutiny by the experts.
The New York Mets suffered a heavy loss of 1-5 to the Los Angeles Dodgers on Saturday. His constant poor performance has made the fans angry and called out to take retirement. Recently, an experienced scout has been indicating that the Mets’ star player is showing signs of aging and is no longer the player he once was.
Is It Over for the 40-Years-Old Justin Verlander?
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Before signing a deal with the New York Mets in December 2022, Verlander had a mixed couple of years. First, he missed the whole 2021 season due to his elbow surgery. However, then he made a storming comeback, winning the Cy Young Award in 2022. Since he joined the Mets, he has struggled with his pace. His performance in the recent games has raised questions about his fitness and future performance.
Besides fans, experts have also questioned his performance in recent games, and in a recent tweet by GENY Mets Report, a longtime scout claimed that Verlander’s Tommy John surgery is the reason for his underperformance.
The tweet says, “My theory is he had to work his tail off to come back from TJ surgery, pitched at a high-level last year, and it took a toll, especially at 40. But I can’t blame the Mets. You wouldn’t have predicted this much of a drop-off. He’s not the same guy.”
“My theory is he had to work his tail off to come back from TJ surgery, pitched at a high level last year and it took a toll, especially at 40. But I can't blame the Mets. You wouldn't have predicted this much of a drop-off. He's not the same guy.” #LGM
~ A long time scout on… pic.twitter.com/JEz7EAZ7Rr
— GENY Mets Report (@genymets) July 15, 2023
However, the 9x All-Star player has faith in himself and his team. He addressed all the post-match conference questions and shared their plans.
Justin Verlander’s Is an Ardent Believer of ‘There’s Tomorrow’
After the devastating loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers, Justin Verlander said it was not what he expected, and took the price.
Accepting the terrible loss, Justin said, “It sucks..This was not a good game of baseball in any facet. Turning toward a positive note, he said, “You walk in the locker room afterward, and you have your head up, and you say, ‘Alright, we did everything we could, and we lost that one. Let’s come back tomorrow.’ Today doesn’t quite feel like that..But, there’s tomorrow..”
"It sucks. This was not a good game of baseball in any facet."
Justin Verlander talks about starting the second half the way the Mets did tonight: pic.twitter.com/MfmK35vQ5f
— SNY (@SNYtv) July 15, 2023
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Mets have paid the two-time World Series champion Verlander a heavy price, and they expect a stellar performance for which he is known.
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However, his performance in the recent matches has raised questions regarding his health. Only the upcoming games will tell if he can overcome the challenges he encountered in the past.
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