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Future Hall of Famer Justin Verlander (r) was placed on the injured list Wednesday.

The San Francisco Giants, winners of four of their last five games heading into Wednesday, suffered twin setbacks as they attempt to dethrone their longtime arch-rivals, the Los Angeles Dodgers, in the National League West. They lost their game Wednesday to the Kansas City Royals, while the Dodgers defeated the Arizona Diamondbacks, pushing San Francisco to two games behind the reigning World Series champions in the divisional race.

But more importantly, the Giants lost their future Hall of Fame righty starter, Justin Verlander, for at least his next two scheduled starts.

The Giants signed the 20-year veteran to a one-year, $15 million contract during the offseason. Though Verlander is 42 years old, the oldest active player in MLB, he is only three years out from his third Cy Young Award win.

10th on the All-Time Career Strikeout Leaderboard

The second overall pick in the 2004 draft, out of Old Dominion, Verlander debuted for the Detroit Tigers the following year, though he made only two appearances in 2005.

In his rookie year of 2006, Verlander started 30 games and tied Kenny Rogers for the team lead in wins, compiling a 17-9 record and 3.63 ERA. He took home American League Rookie of the Year honors and helped propel the Tigers to their first World Series since 1984.

Since then, Verlander has led the AL in strikeouts five times. In 2018, pitching for the Houston Astros at age 35, he fanned a career high 290 while walking just 37 in 214 innings over a league-leading 34 starts.

Verlander won the Cy Young Award in 2011 — when he also was named AL MVP and won a league-leading 24 games — and again in 2019 with the Astros. His third Cy Young, also with the Astros, came in 2022.

Verlander leads all active pitchers in strikeouts with 3,457, just 49 ahead of his former Tigers teammate Max Scherzer who is now on the Toronto Blue Jays staff. Verlander’s strikeout total places him 10th on the all-time leaderboard. He needs 53 more to surpass legendary Washington Senators hurler Walter Johnson.

But after getting off to a slow start in what may be the final season of his certain Hall of Fame career, with an 0-3 record and 4.33 ERA through a league-high 10 starts, Verlander was sent to the injured list by the Giants on Wednesday — San Francisco’s second setback as it attempts to walk down the Dodgers’s lead in the division.

Verlander Has Been Injury-Prone in Last 2 Years

According to the Giants, as reported by Grant Brisbee of The Athletic, Verlander was diagnosed with “a mild pectoral strain” that will hold him out of his next two starts.

In Verlader’s most recent start, May 18 against the club formerly known as the Oakland Athletics, Verlander was pulled after just four innings, during which he walked five batters and struck out only one. His fastball velocity was down as well — all the result if the pectoral “discomfort,” according to Brisbee’s report.

Though Giants manager Bob Melvin said he did not expect Verlander to miss more than two starts, last season with Houston, Verlander suffered what was initially described as a minor neck injury in June that ended up keeping him on the shelf for two months.

The future Hall of Famer started the 2024 season on the IL with shoulder inflammation. Verlander ended the season with a career high 5.48 ERA, striking out only 74 in 90 2/3 innings.

Jonathan Vankin JONATHAN VANKIN is an award-winning journalist and writer who now covers baseball and other sports for Heavy.com. He twice won New England Press Association awards for sports feature writing. Vankin is also the author of five nonfiction books on a variety of topics, as well as nine graphic novels including most recently “Last of the Gladiators” published by Dynamite Entertainment. More about Jonathan Vankin