In his first season back on the mound after Tommy John elbow surgery, 39-year-old Justin Verlander returned to the Houston Astros and executed one of his best seasons, earning his third American Cy Young Award.
The right-hander was unanimously selected for the 2022 AL Cy Young Award on Wednesday, according to Major League Baseball (MLB).
However, 17 years ago, Verlander’s career success was anything but certain. When the 22-year-old-rookie Verlander stepped onto an MLB pitching mound for the first time, things did not go as planned.
The Detroit Tiger’s No.1 overall draft pick in the 2004 draft made his career debut on Independence Day 2005, getting the start at home against the then-Cleveland Indians (Guardians.)
After getting Cleveland lead-off man Grady Sizemore to pop weakly out to short left field — Verlander’s first career out — the Indians brought eight batters to the plate to combine two singles, two walks, a double, and three RBI to take a 3-0 lead, minutes into the contest.
It likely would not have mattered how well Verlander pitched in the first of two starts that season on that Fourth of July because the Tigers got shutout 6-0. Verlander lasted 5.1 innings, yielding four runs on seven hits and three walks while fanning five – strikeout number one of his career coming against Travis Hafner.
Verlander would end an unremarkable first season in the majors with a record of 0-2 in two starts, typical of a young, unseasoned, and underutilized pitcher.
Flash forward to November 5 of this year, when Verlander and his Astros teammates won the World Series against the Phillies. The championship title was yet another achievement of many for the free agent pitcher, including MVP and his first Cy Young Award in 2011 and a second Cy Young in 2019.
“I will always kind of remember this Cy Young as looking back at the growth of me as a father, as a person, and also the rehab and all the hard work that went into the rehab and how I was just so committed,” Verlander told MLB.com.
Verlander’s third Cy Young Award was also his ninth appearance in the top five for the Cy Young Award and his sixth turn in the top two of voting.
In 2012, 2016, and 2018 Verlander was the AL Cy Young Award runner-up. He is the 11th pitcher in MLB history to win the pitching honor three times. He is also the fourth Houston pitcher to win the award, joining Mike Scott (NL, 1986), Roger Clemens (NL, 2004), as well as left-hander Dallas Keuchel (AL, 2015).
The 39-year-old is the first pitcher in Houston Astros’ history to win the Cy Young Award more than once.
Verlander had an outstanding season in 2022. He led the American League in wins (18), ERA (1.75), WHIP (0.83), opponent OPS (.497), average (.186), slugging percentage (.297), and hits per nine innings (5.97).
He finished 2022 with an ERA of 1.75, the lowest for an Astros pitcher in an entire season. His ERA is also the lowest in a season by an AL pitcher since Red Sox starter Pedro Martinez’s 1.74 ERA in 2000 when he won the Cy Young Award.
Verlander’s ERA was also the third lowest in the AL since divisions were introduced in 1969.