Tigers digging into why Justin Verlander is having so many pitches fouled off Of his 108 pitches, the Red Sox fouled off 22. Of his 72 pitches in his second-to-last start against the White Sox, he allowed 21 foul balls.

Anthony Fenech | Detroit Free Press

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BOSTON – A day later, after a lengthy text message conversation with director of baseball operations Sam Menzin – the Detroit Tigers’ head analytics man – manager Brad Ausmus had a theory as to why Justin Verlander was allowing so many foul balls.

That theory, he said, would be kept to himself until he puts it to the test.

But foul balls have plagued the ace right-hander in his past two starts.

“There’s a ton,” Ausmus said after Saturday night’s loss to the Red Sox. “We were talking about it after he came out of the game. That’s what’s causing his pitch count to go up. Some of those foul balls are probably balls out of the zone that they’re chasing. But that was definitely an impact.”

It was the second consecutive start in which Verlander was plagued by foul balls. Of his 108 pitches, the Red Sox fouled off 22. Of his 72 pitches in his second-to-last start against the White Sox, he allowed 21 foul balls.

“It seems to be a general theme this year,” Verlander said Saturday. “I need to find a way to get guys to swing and miss or put it in play weakly. Fouling balls off right now is killing me because it’s extending at-bats. Guys are finding their way to have 10-pitch at-bats and if they happen to get on, they’re spoiling really good pitches.”

Verlander’s average fastball velocity this season -- 95 m.p.h. -- is actually higher than last season -- 93.7 m.p.h. -- according to FanGraphs. The spin rate on his pitches this season is in line with those from last year, too.

But there is one difference: Verlander’s swing and miss ratio on pitches in the zone has dipped from 12.2% last season to 7.6% this season.

“I don’t know if I’ve had a bout like this consecutively over a period of time where there’s no easy outs,” he said. “So I just have to figure it out.”

Verlander, himself, was perplexed at the reason why.

“Do you kind of chalk it up to bad luck or guys being really locked in at the right time or is it something else?” he said. “Your answer is as good as mine at this point. Maybe you guys can look at the numbers and tell me why.”

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Ausmus said the team is looking at a number of reasons, but the view from here is that it’s likely a bit fluky. He wasn’t at full health in his start against the White Sox and the Red Sox are a team that notoriously works an opponent’s pitch count.

Verlander threw five innings, allowing three runs on five hits with four walks and three strikeouts. The foul balls definitely cost him at least another inning.

He reported no soreness in his right groin, though, which was a cause for concern after exiting early on June 4.

“I was cognizant of it, but no, it felt good,” he said. “It made it through about as good as I could have hoped for. Like I said, I was just aware of it, not trying to overdo anything.”

Still, the foul balls remain a thorn in his side.

“It sucks,” he said. “I don’t know what to tell you. I felt like there was a few instances (Saturday) where I made a pretty good pitch and they were just able to foul it off or just spit on it or just stay alive or whatever they gotta do.

“At least (Sandy) Leon could have taken out somebody in their dugout or something so they could have told him to just swing and miss.”

Contact Anthony Fenech: afenech@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @anthonyfenech.