Houston Astros ace Justin Verlander is now 39 years old, which has some thinking he could potentially retire in the not-too-distant future. But after a stellar year where he owned an ERA under two, the righty made it clear: He ain't quitting anytime soon. In fact, you'll literally need to rip the jersey off his back.
“I just love the game I love competing, there's just never been a doubt in my mind, I just wanna play until they rip the jersey off of me. I'm not gonna be out there making a fool of myself don't get me wrong but it's just the way I always envisioned it, the greats of the past all pitched into their 40s so there was never a question in my mind that if you want to be great, that's what you have to do so I've prepared myself to do that since I started throwing a baseball.”
Justin Verlander has a point. Roger Clemens and Nolan Ryan both pitched well into their 40s, among others. Those two are in the conversation of the greatest to ever step on the mound. Verlander will be there, too.
The former Detroit Tiger went 18-4 with a 1.75 ERA in 2022, striking out a whopping 185 batters in 175 innings. That's after missing basically two seasons due to injury. The most impressive part is Verlander is still regularly hitting the high 90s at his age. This man just isn't aging.
Players retire when they don't have what it takes anymore. That's far from the case for Justin Verlander. Expect him to also bounce back and carve in the ALCS and beyond. He's big-time.
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