What happened to Giants star Justin Verlander? All we know about pitcher’s injury

San Francisco Giants veteran star Justin Verlander has been added to the 15-day injured list with pectoral muscle soreness. His condition became evident on Wednesday after the team lost to the Kansas City Royals 8-4 at Oracle Park.

When speaking to the press, team manager Bob Melvin hoped the 42-year-old would not be sidelined for too long and avoid the worst-case scenario.

“It just makes some sense right now not to push him too hard, because he wasn’t going to make this next start,” Bob Melvin said.

“He’s obviously not happy about it. He wants to make every start. But we think it’s the prudent thing to do -- just give him a little bit of a break right now.”

While Verlander did not have any discomfort in the outing against the Athletics on Sunday, he could sense something was wrong as his velocity was down from the season average.

“I really thought it was going to be just fine, and then I go out there and start throwing, and I look up at the first pitch and it’s 90, 91,” Verlander said. “I’m like, 'Oh, boy. Gonna be a tough day.'”

Things took a turn on Wednesday when he threw on the side and was not confident about playing in the Giants' upcoming games, including the tip-off against the Washington Nationals.

Verlander being out with an injury will heavily affect the team’s core. The pitcher acknowledged this and hopes to return as soon as possible.

“The best thing for the team was to get an extra arm here,” Verlander said. “Hopefully easy to deal with, and I should be back pretty quickly

Meanwhile, per ESPN, Justin Verlander insists that his current state is not related to his neck injury from last June with the Houston Astros, which had the pitcher sidelined for two months.

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Top prospects that might play in place of Justin Verlander

Justin Verlander [Source: Imagn]

While it’s extremely unfortunate to have Justin Verlander sit out of the game for a couple of weeks, the team has some potential prospects in mind. This will follow the team’s recent bullpen move with Jordan Hicks and Hayden Birdsong.

Hicks can be a strong candidate to start in place of Verlander, but the team might explore other players options in Kyle Harrison, and Carson Whisenhunt. Giants pitcher Logan Webb is confident in the player prospects.

“Whoever it is, they’ll come in and do a great job,” Webb said.

Manager Bob Melvin also believes that the team will have players ready for their game against the Nationals. The hope for now is that Verlander returns at 100% after his 15-day IL stint.