Verlander heads to free agency with 'a lot more to give'
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HOUSTON -- As perhaps the only active pitcher with a chance to reach 300 career wins, Justin Verlander said Wednesday his career is far from done. At 41 years old, he spent most of this season on the injured list and wasn’t on Houston’s Wild Card Series roster, but will enter free agency with something left in the tank.
Verlander picked up career win No. 262 in his final start of the regular season Saturday in Cleveland. He threw six innings, hitting 97 mph and allowed three runs, giving him a 5.48 ERA in 90 1/3 innings pitched this season.
Verlander began the season on the IL with right shoulder inflammation and then missed two and a half months with a neck injury. He struggled with his mechanics in seven starts after returning from the IL on Aug. 21, admitting he came back too quickly. He posted an 8.10 ERA in 33 1/3 innings after returning.
“I do feel like I have a lot more to give pitching-wise,” Verlander said following the Astros’ season-ending 5-2 loss to the Tigers in Game 2 of the Wild Card Series. “This year was a tough year, learned a lot from it. Obviously, I talked to you guys about how I was feeling coming back [from a neck injury] and how I needed to push the issue a bit.
“Kind of a weird injury in the neck and tried as best as I could to get out there and be an asset to help this team in October, but [I] wasn’t able to do it and wasn’t pitching well enough to be part of this series. But having an offseason to get things right, I definitely feel like I want to continue to pitch and compete. I’m not ready to step away yet.”
Verlander has a close relationship with Astros owner Jim Crane, who’s traded for him twice and signed him to one contract extension already. The Astros will have solid rotation depth next year with Framber Valdez, Hunter Brown and Spencer Arrighetti coming off good seasons and Cristian Javier, Luis Garcia, José Urquidy and Lance McCullers Jr. set to return from injuries.
In two stints in Houston, Verlander won two World Series titles, two AL Cy Young Awards, reached 3,000 career strikeouts and threw his third career no-hitter. His place in Astros history is secure, but it’s unclear if the team wants him back.
“The teammates that have come and gone, the way the city has embraced my family and myself, the ovation I got walking off the field after a really crappy start, and maybe being my last one, there’s a lot of moments that stuck out,” he said.