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Justin Verlander and Lance McCullers threw some serious shade at Robinson Cano

liz roscher
Staff writer
·2 min read

Whenever a baseball player is suspended for using a banned substance, other players always have reactions. And thanks to Twitter, we can see those reactions in real time. On Tuesday, Robinson Cano was given an 80-game suspension without pay for using a diuretic/masking agent on MLB’s list of banned substances. And boy, there were some reactions.

Not long after the news of Cano’s suspension broke, Houston Astros pitcher Lance McCullers tweeted — and then deleted — a take on the suspension. An eagle-eyed Twitter user grabbed a screencap of the tweet so it can be enjoyed by everyone forever.

That is some shade right there. And there are probably a fair number of runs Cano would have to give back. In 28 plate appearances against McCullers, Cano has a .360/.429/.520 triple slash, with nine hits, a double, a home run and three walks.

Justin Verlander feels pretty strongly about baseball players using banned substances. (Getty Images)
Justin Verlander feels pretty strongly about baseball players using banned substances. (Getty Images)

But if that’s not enough for you, McCullers’ teammate Justin Verlander had a take of his own. This one wasn’t deleted.

Shady! So shady!

Verlander seems to feel strongly about players using substances that have been banned by MLB. But as time goes on, people change. Five years ago, when his then-teammate Jhonny Peralta was suspended, he had a slightly gentler take.

“Everybody makes mistakes. … He’s my brother. We fight and bleed and sweat together on the baseball field.”

Granted, Verlander and Peralta had been teammates on the Detroit Tigers for nearly three years at that point. If Verlander and Cano were teammates, his reaction might be a little different. As it stands, it seems like Verlander has instituted a no tolerance policy when it comes to violating MLB’s joint drug agreement. These Astros pitchers don’t mess around.

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Liz Roscher is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email her at lizroscher@yahoo.com or follow her on Twitter! Follow @lizroscher

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