After agreeing to a one-year, $15 million deal this past offseason, Justin Verlander is in his debut season as a member of the San Francisco Giants and his 20th overall.
Before a midseason 2017 trade transferred him to the Houston Astros, where he played for seven more seasons, including a brief half-season spell in New York as a Met, he spent thirteen seasons with the Detroit Tigers.
Verlander, who was chosen second overall in the 2004 MLB Draft, has had a stellar career, winning three Cy Young Awards, nine All-Star Game selections, and AL MVP in 2011. In addition, he has won two World Series, with the Astros winning in 2017 and 2022.
But his recent stint has fans worrying and insiders making some blunt but honest predictions.
Will Justin Verlander Get His Groove Back?
According to MLB insider Ken Rosenthal, “The odds against Verlander getting to 300 are even longer now that he is winless in his first 13 starts for the San Francisco Giants, the longest streak by a Giants pitcher since at least 1901. Any other pitcher to go winless in 13 straight likely would be out of the rotation.”
He is MLB’s oldest active player at 42, which raises the possibility that his career is coming to an end.
The Giants’ 11-2 loss to the Athletics at Sutter Health Park on Friday night put an abrupt end to Verlander’s momentum after he had just finished one of his most promising starts of the season (six innings, one run against the Chicago White Sox).
The A’s hit him for six runs and seven hits in just three innings, which was his second-shortest start of the 2025 MLB season.
Verlander has a resume that will undoubtedly earn him a spot in the Hall of Fame, but he has changed since his heyday as a strong pitcher.
Verlander has to work harder in between starts rather than relying solely on his athletic ability to get by, and he intends to keep doing so until he achieves that elusive first victory with the Orange and Black.
Verlander believed he may join the elusive 300-win club after finishing the 2023 season with 257 career victories. There was no prospect of retirement. In today’s game, very few pitchers have won 31 games over two seasons. There seemed to be more left in him.
The Giants weren’t expecting Verlander to be the dominant pitcher he had been previously, but they certainly didn’t expect to go into July, still waiting for the three-time Cy Young Award winner to get his first win with the Orange and Black.