Kate Upton a “Curse” to Justin Verlander’s Career

Actress and model Kate Upton poses for photographers as she arrives for the UK Gala screening of The Other Woman in London April 2, 2014. REUTERS

Kate Upton is the one to blame for Detroit Tigers' star player Justin Verlander's recent struggles, according to new report.

The 2014 season hasn't been very good for Verlander. Reportedly, he is not as nearly effective as his performance during the 2013 season. Verlander's strikeouts per innings are down from 9.2 in the last five years to 6.4 in 2014. He is just not pitching as solid as he used to.

Some people might attribute Verlander's struggles to a possible hidden injury but Jonathan Lehman of the New York Post thinks otherwise. He said that Verlander's poor performance could be the result of dating the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit model.

"What if the problem has nothing to do with his right arm and everything to do with the buxom blonde on his arm?"

Lehman wrote that Upton is the reason why Verlander is not performing well in the current season. He even used other athletes whom Upton had dated previously like Mark Sanchez and Blake Griffin, who didn't do so well while allegedly dating Upton.

"Call it the Kate Upton effect. In addition to Verlander, the supermodel's 'victims' may include former Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez and NBA All-Star Blake Griffin."

Lehman wrote that Sanchez's career nosedived when the quarterback was rumoured to have hooked up with Upton back in 2011. The same holds true for Griffin, who allegedly played the "worst of his four NBA seasons" while dating Upton in 2013.

Meanwhile, Verlander is well aware that he is not at his best but optimistic that he can get back on track. He didn't relate his struggles at all with his relationship with Upton. "I knew my game was somewhere underneath the bad habits I had collected," Verlander told Detroit Free Press. Verlander said that every athlete, at one point in his or her life, experiences a plummet in career. He said that the only thing he needs to do is to "fight to get back to doing things the right way."

Verlander further stated that it would take time for him to completely get back to his game. "What you're looking for is some encouragement and you could see improvement in what we're trying to do get my mechanics back to what they were before."