
Justin Verlander is one of the best pitchers of this era. He spent most of it with the division rival Detroit Tigers which is tough as a fan of the Chicago White Sox. He was a brilliant pitcher for them for a very long time. He played for the Tigers from parts of 2005 to 2017. He was brilliant and became a future Hall of Famer there.
In his 13 years with Detroit, he went 183-114. He had a 3.49 ERA with them and a total of 2373 strikeouts over that time. He had some great years including 2011. In that year, he didn’t just win the Cy Young, but he won the MVP as well. That is very difficult for a pitcher to do in today’s era. He led the league with his 24-5 record, 2.40 ERA, and 250 strikeouts. It was a brilliant year for him as he won the pitching Triple Crown. He also had six all-star appearances during his time with the Detroit Tigers.
He seemed burned out at the end in Detroit so he was traded to the Houston Astros. Well, his career was revived a bit there as he won the World Series with them that fall. Yes, it came out that they cheated using technology to steal signs that postseason. Verlander is wrong because he had to know it was happening despite it not really affecting his pitching. He did also win the Cy Young a second time this past season with Houston. Some people might see the Houston years as a knock on his legacy but there is no doubt that he was one of the best players to ever play in the A.L. Central.