Health Is Major X-Factor to San Francisco Giants Veteran Pitcher Remaining Productive

Health is going to determine how much success a veteran San Francisco Giants pitcher has in 2025.

Sep 28, 2024; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Houston Astros starting pitcher Justin Verlander (35) throws a pitch during the first inning against the Cleveland Guardians at Progressive Field. | Ken Blaze-Imagn Images

The San Francisco Giants suffered a major loss on their pitching staff when former Cy Young Award winner Blake Snell decided to decline his option for the 2025 season and hit free agency again.

It hurt even more when he began the growing trend of star players landing with the Los Angeles Dodgers, as he agreed to a massive five-year, $182 million deal with their National League West rivals.

The Giants attempted to go to the top of the market to replace him, as they were thought to be the favorites for Baltimore Orioles ace Corbin Burnes in free agency. Alas, another other NL West rival, the Arizona Diamondbacks, beat them to the punch and swooped in.

Still on the lookout for pitching help, the team did end up making a move, signing veteran Justin Verlander to a one-year, $15 million deal.

The future Hall of Famer is coming off the worst season of his career, which has some people thinking this wasn’t the best move for San Francisco to make.

But, when taking a look at his numbers from 2024 compared to 2023, when he still performed at a good level, it looks like he certainly has something left in the tank to offer.

The most important aspect of remaining a productive player is his health, as it had a direct impact on how well he performed.

In eight starts prior to hurting his neck, Verlander looked like the player we had become accustomed to seeing. He was no longer an ace who would anchor the staff and blow away opponents regularly, but he was more than serviceable.

As shared by Grant Brisbee of The Athletic, he had an ERA of 3.26 with a .676 OPS allowed and 8.2 K/9 before the injury force him to the sidelines.

His fastball velocity was nearly identical to what it was registering at in September 2023.

But, a dip in velocity began to occur once the neck started giving him issues, and even when he returned to the mound to start gearing up for the postseason, it never quite got back to those original levels.

Without the normal juice on his fastball, other pitches became easier to hit as well. And the results were evident in his nine starts after coming off the injured list.

Verlander had an ugly 7.89 ERA with a .883 OPS allowed. His strikeouts plummeted as well to only 6.2 per nine innings.

While the neck injury could be behind him with months to recover, the workload on his body and his age, as he will be turning 42 years old before Opening Day, are certainly causes for concern.

Remaining healthy gets harder and harder later into a career with all of the wear and tear. But it is clear, as long as he can avoid any serious ailments, he can still provide San Francisco with productive innings.