Justin Verlander Solved His World Series Riddle; Here’s How He Did It

The Houston Astros have won their second world championship in franchise history and first under the leadership of manager Dusty Baker. A sentimental favorite at 73 years old to finally raise the Commissioner’s Trophy, Baker is universally beloved even though the Astros are a constant target of vitriol because of the 2017 sign stealing scandal. A man of profound class and dignity, Baker’s ball club has been the personification of excellence all season as he has provided authenticity to their vast accomplishments.

Besides Baker’s three decade journey to World Series glory as a manager, right-handed pitcher Justin Verlander has made a miraculous recovery from a career threatening injury at 37 years old and is the prohibitive favorite to win his third American League Cy Young Award. After eight unsuccessful starts across four World Series (2006, 2012, 2017, 2019), Verlander finally won his first ball game in the Fall Classic. In Game Five against the Philadelphia Phillies, Verlander surrendered one earned run on four hits, four base on balls, and six strikeouts over five innings as the Astros had won by the score of 3-2. In his ninth start, Verlander became the fourth oldest starting pitcher to earn a win in the World Series at 39 years, 256 days.

Verlander was grinding through the first three innings of Game Five as the Phillies’ hitters were getting on top of his 4-seam fastball. Verlander eventually incorporated sliders and curveballs into his repertoire while experiencing positive results. According to data collected from Baseball Savant, Verlander threw 94 pitches in Game Five with 53 being 4-seam fastballs. He threw 27 sliders which produced 14 swings with seven being missed by the hitters. 13 curveballs helped Verlander curtail the aggressiveness demonstrated by the Phillies.

Both he and Baker had to exorcise demons from previous World Series failures. Baker demonstrated tremendous trust in Verlander as he relied more on gut instinct than a spreadsheet at a pivotal moment in Game Five. After a disappointing performance in Game One which produced five earned runs in five innings, Verlander wisely used the time between starts by addressing why he wasn’t in sync and how bad habits were affecting his mechanics. Besides working through these concerns in multiple bullpen sessions, Verlander also focused on execution, tempo, and timing.

In the bottom of the fifth inning with two outs and designated hitter Bryce Harper on second base, Verlander battled right fielder Nick Castellanos in a 10 pitch at bat. As the Astros were holding on to a 2-1 lead, Baker could have easily gone to the bullpen in a high leverage situation given that Verlander had already thrown 84 pitches over 22 tough plate appearances. Instead, he trusted his ace and Verlander rewarded Baker with a fly out to left fielder Yordan Alvarez on an 89.6 miles per hour slider. FOX’s television cameras caught an embrace between manager and pitcher moments later in the dugout which spoke volumes about Baker’s faith in Verlander. The cleats worn by the 39-year-old pitcher in Game Five were presented to National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum President Josh Rawitch as a donated artifact.

Presently, Verlander sits in second place (16) on the all-time postseason wins list just behind left-handed pitcher Andy Pettitte (19). Even though Verlander’s 1-6 record and 5.63 earned run average in nine World Series starts lacks prestige, the future Hall of Famer makes up for the deficiency in other ways. According to Tyler Kepner of The New York TimesNYT
and presented in a tweet, Verlander is one of only three pitchers who have won multiple Cy Young Awards, thrown multiple no-hitters, and won multiple world championships. The other two: left-handed pitcher Sandy Koufax and right-handed pitcher Tim Lincecum. Verlander is a two-time American League Cy Young Award winner (2011, 2019) who has thrown three no-hitters and is a two-time world champion (2017, 2022).

One of 19 pitchers in baseball’s 3,000 strikeout club, Verlander is one of four pitchers who has struck out at least 3,000 batters while winning multiple Cy Young Awards and world championships according to data collected from Baseball-Reference. The other three: Steve Carlton, Roger Clemens, and Bob Gibson. He is also the only pitcher with at least 3,000 strikeouts complemented by two Cy Young Awards, two world championships, and three no-hitters. He recently won the 2022 Players Choice Awards for the American League’s Outstanding Pitcher and Comeback Player. Expect to see Verlander add a third American League Cy Young Award to his résumé when the winner is announced November 16^th on the MLB Network.

In multiple interviews this postseason, Verlander has used the word “present” when asked to reflect on what has transpired since his September 2020 surgery to repair a torn ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow. He lives in the present and savors every moment. Life experiences have also allowed Verlander to grow as a person and become a better husband and father to his wife, model Kate Upton, and their daughter, four-year-old Genevieve. He has worked hard on building relationships through effective means of communication and listening. The intensity and burning desire for perfection is ever present in Verlander, but he has done a far better job of incorporating joy into interactions with teammates and coaches.

Verlander has just completed a one-year, $25 million contract with the Astros according to Cot’s Baseball Contracts. The contract also includes a conditional 2023 player option for $25 million if Verlander had eclipsed 130 innings pitched during the 2022 season. He easily surpassed the requirement with 175 innings pitched over 28 starts. Given the market set by right-handed pitcher Max Scherzer last offseason with his three-year, $130 million contract with an average annual value of $43.33 million, look for Verlander to opt out of his contract and pursue a similar deal in free agency. The 38-year-old Scherzer’s contract with the Mets also includes an opt out clause at the conclusion of the 2023 season, no-trade protection, and annual performance bonuses.

Justin Verlander is far from done when it comes to concluding his extraordinary career. Besides pitching at an elite level, Verlander’s family still gets tremendous joy seeing him compete at a time when most professional athletes are focused on transitioning into new phases of their lives. He also knows how desirable of an asset he is to several ball clubs on a highly lucrative, short-term basis. Verlander will pay close attention to his health, but it wouldn’t be surprising to see him chase baseball longevity like Hall of Famer Nolan Ryan who pitched until he was 46 years old. 300 wins would be an ambitious milestone to achieve given his status at 244 career wins, but all of us have learned never to underestimate the determination of Verlander.