Like a fine wine, Houston Astros star pitcher Justin Verlander gets better every year.
Winner of an MVP award and two Cy Young awards, the right-hander had a 1.75 ERA in the 2022 regular season, with a 0.83 WHIP.
Yes: he’s good, and he is the American League’s prime candidate to get the Cy Young this year, too.
Not many 39-year-old hurlers are actually capable of contending for a Cy Young.
In fact, Verlander won it in his last full, healthy season in 2019, and could take it home this year.
He has other things to think about at the moment, however.
On Friday, he will be on the hill for Game 1 of the World Series, as his Astros will face the tough Philadelphia Phillies.
Verlander had a rough 2022 playoff debut against the Seattle Mariners, but dominated the New York Yankees in Game 1 of the American League Championship Series last week.
The Phillies Present An Interesting Test For Verlander
He will have to face a much tougher lineup, with Bryce Harper, Rhys Hoskins, Alec Bohm, J.T. Realmuto, Jean Segura, and Nick Castellanos ready to punish any potential mistakes.
Verlander, however, has the tools to neutralize any lineup as he has did in his last 100 regular season starts.
“Best ERAs, last 100 regular season MLB starts: Jacob deGrom, 2.06; Justin Verlander, 2.30; Max Scherzer, 2.79; Clayton Kershaw, 2.84; Julio Urías, 2.87; Walker Buehler, 2.91; Gerrit Cole, 2.94; Shane Bieber, 3.00; Sandy Alcántara, 3.00,” Codify Baseball tweeted.
Best ERAs, last 100 regular season MLB starts:
Jacob deGrom, 2.06
Justin Verlander, 2.30 👀
Max Scherzer, 2.79
Clayton Kershaw, 2.84
Julio Urías, 2.87
Walker Buehler, 2.91
Gerrit Cole, 2.94
Shane Bieber, 3.00
Sandy Alcántara, 3.00 https://t.co/oJ9jPoy5NT— Codify (@CodifyBaseball) October 27, 2022
A 2.30 ERA over that span is ridiculously good.
As it turns out, Verlander is also good in postseason play.
He has 15 wins and a 3.55 ERA in the playoffs over the course of his brilliant career.
With the Astros offense, that’s more than good enough.
As long as he can give the Astros a quality start, he would have done his job.
NEXT: The Astros Possess A Lineup Of Silver Slugger Finalists