Even a devastating early postseason exit isn’t enough to dampen Justin Verlander’s zest for a 20th season in Major League Baseball.
Verlander, who turns 42 next February, told reporters after the Houston Astros were eliminated by the Detroit Tigers in a Wild Card round sweep that he intends to play again in 2025.
Justin Verlander said he intends to pitch next year. “I’m not ready to step away yet.”
— Matt Kawahara (@matthewkawahara) October 2, 2024
“I’m not ready to step away yet,” Verlander said.
Verlander didn’t pitch in either game of the Astros’ stunning loss to the Detroit Tigers at Minute Maid Park. Neither did he put himself in a position to take the ball in either game.
More news: MLB Playoffs: Wild Card Round Produces Huge Upset
In seven starts after returning from a neck injury in August, Verlander went 2-4 with an 8.10 ERA.
“I think I came back from the neck injury a little fast,” he told reporters after a Sept. 20 start in which he was shelled for six runs in 4.2 innings by the Angels.
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Verlander attained free agency when his conditional player option for 2025 failed to vest. He needed to pitch 140 innings and pass a physical in order to trigger the $35 million option, which Verlander almost certainly would’ve exercised after a poor 2024 season at age 41.
In 17 games, Verlander went 5-6 with a 5.48 earned-run average. He pitched only 90.1 innings in a season interrupted by the neck injury.
From 2006-19, Verlander established his reputation as a top-of-the-rotation workhorse with the Detroit Tigers and Astros. He made eight All-Star teams, won two Cy Young Awards, and in 2011 became the first American League pitcher to win the Most Valuable Player award since Dennis Eckersley in 1992.
Many questioned Verlander’s ability to bounce back from Tommy John surgery after missing the entire 2021 season. But he went 18-4 with a league-leading 1.75 ERA and 218 strikeouts in 2022 at age 39 to claim his second career Cy Young Award.
Verlander parlayed that season into a huge free agent contract with the New York Mets. The two-year, $86.7 million contract came with a massive average annual value north of $43.3 million that he will not match with his next contract.
Verlander leads all active pitchers in wins (262), losses (147), starts (526), complete games (26), innings pitched (3415.2), and strikeouts (3416). He is all but certain to be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame whenever he decides to retire.
Amid all the uncertainty of who his next employer will be, and the kind of contract he can expect to fetch as a free agent, Verlander doesn’t sound eager to begin his countdown to Hall of Fame induction.
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