Houston Astros‘ starter Justin Verlander is coming from a long Tommy John surgery recovery that took away most of his 2020 season and all of the 2021 campaign.
Additionally, he is 39 years old and should have his workload monitored at all times at this point of his career.
Yet, he reached a cool, important milestone on Wednesday, one that bodes well for his future usage and health.
He reached the century mark in pitches for the first time in a while.
“Verlander has thrown 100 pitches in a game for the first time since Sept. 12, 2019,” Astros reporter for MLB.com Brian McTaggart tweeted today.
Verlander has thrown 100 pitches in a game for the first time since Sept. 12, 2019.
— Brian McTaggart (@brianmctaggart) May 4, 2022
As a reminder, Verlander won the American League Cy Young award in 2019.
He got injured early in the 2020 campaign, so he wasn’t fully stretched out to throw 100 pitches in a game when he was ruled out with the elbow ligament damage.
It Had Been A While Since Verlander Logged 100 Pitches In A Game
For the first time in almost three years, however, the star right-hander hit a relevant milestone for a starter in MLB.
The Astros hope that he can return ace-like value on the mound for the remainder of the season.
With several teams improving in the AL West division, Houston is going to need every contribution it can get, including Verlander’s.
If the team wants to repeat its World Series berth, they are going to need to keep Verlander in one piece come October.
After keeping the Mariners in check for 6.2 innings today, allowing just a couple of earned runs, Verlander’s season ERA stands at 1.93, and his WHIP is a sparkling 0.70.
He remains the same dominant pitcher he was prior to the surgery, which is amazing for a player his age.
The Astros are enjoying the ride.
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