“Everything has a little bit of influence" - Justin Verlander refuses to blame pitch clock for recent pitcher injuries

Justin Verlander is a victim of the rash of pitcher injuries facing baseball, but he will be back in action much sooner than some of his counterparts.

It seems like pitcher injuries are common now. It's almost not a matter of if but when a star ace will go on the shelf for some time. Many have been looking for a reason for that.

The pitch clock, one of the most recent and biggest changes to how pitching is done, has been blamed frequently, but Verlander isn't going that far. He doesn't think there's any sole issue that's to blame.

Verlander pointed to the changes in the game:

"I think the game has changed a lot, it would be easiest to blame the pitch clock, in reality everything has a little bit of influence.

"The biggest thing is the style of pitching has changed so much. Everyone is throwing as hard as they possibly can and spinning the ball as hard as they possibly can."

The Houston Astros ace called it a double-edged sword and admitted that he doesn't have the answers for the epidemic.

He pointed to a recent change on offense that prompted it, saying that when the baseballs started to change several years ago and produced more home runs, it changed how he had to approach pitching.

He, like many others, began needing to get more swings and misses, and it might have caused some injuries. He's not sure how to fix it, but he acknowledged the severity of the situation and the necessity to do something sooner rather than later.

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When will Justin Verlander be back?

Justin Verlander is on his way back.

Gerrit Cole lost two months and potentially more to an arm injury. Spencer Strider may have to have surgery on his elbow, while Shane Bieber and Jonathan Loaisiga are done for the year. Justin Verlander's injury is pretty mild in comparison.

Verlander will be back soon. If all goes well, he could be back pitching by the end of the month, but a return is coming eventually even if it's not the best case scenario.