Post by Admin on May 27, 2022 19:51:29 GMT
Astros Justin Verlander DOMINATING in return season after missing basically 2 years! (6-1, 1.22 ERA)
2,353 views May 28, 2022 Astros star pitcher Justin Verlander has dominated in his first season since basically 2019, starting out with a 6-1 record and 1.22 ERA with 49 strikeouts!
Nothing was ever going to dismantle Justin Verlander's reputation as a future Hall of Famer in 2022. Even if he came out and flopped harder than he ever had before, it would have been understandable and eminently forgivable under the circumstances.
It only makes it that much sweeter that he's doing the improbable of actually adding to his resume for Cooperstown.
The Houston Astros ace is thriving through his first eight starts of the season, as he's tied for second among pitchers with 2.2 rWAR while also leading everyone with a 1.22 ERA. He stands to push the latter even lower if he can make it four straight scoreless outings tonight against the Seattle Mariners at T-Mobile Park.
Whether or not Verlander would even pitch at all this season was a good question after he underwent Tommy John surgery in October 2020. That always figured to sideline him for the entire 2021 campaign, which was also his last under contract with the Astros. Meanwhile, his 39th birthday loomed on Feb. 20 of this year.
If Verlander had opted to hang up his spikes in lieu of attempting a comeback, he would have walked away without a single thing to prove. As of the close of the 2020 season, his credentials included:
That's a Hall of Fame resume if there ever was one. Heck, they could have started drafting Verlander's plaque as soon as the anesthesia for his Tommy John surgery kicked in.
It's a good thing they didn't, though. At the rate he's going, Verlander's long list of accomplishments could also come to include another Cy Young Award after perhaps the most unlikely Tommy John comeback in the history of Major League Baseball.