Justin Verlander makes final start: Where he stands in Detroit Tigers history

Justin Verlander made his final start for the Detroit Tigers on Saturday, Sept. 26.

The 43-year-old right-hander closed out his 21^st MLB season with his 382^nd appearance – all starts – for the Tigers. Verlander opened with three scoreless innings before surrendering a homer to the first batter in the fourth, then gave up another solo home run with one out in the sixth. Tigers manager A.J. Hinch then pulled the icon with one out in the fifth inning, allowing him to bask in an ovation from the Comerica Park crowd one final time. The final out: Pittsburgh second baseman Brandon Lowe, 7,754 days after JV recorded his first out in Detroit – a popout to short by Cleveland center fielder Grady Sizemore.

Here’s where his outing Saturday leaves him on

the Tigers’ all-time leaderboards, among some Hall of Fame greats and legends of Detroit baseball:

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*All statistics via Baseball Reference.

Wins Above Replacement: 2^nd

Verlander finished with approximately 56.4 bWAR, behind only left-hander Hal Newhouser (58.8) in Tigers franchise history.

ERA: 31^st

JV’s 3.51 ERA puts him just behind another right-hander with two no-hitters in the Old English “D,” Virgil Trucks (3.50), and just ahead of his rotationmate for five seasons, Max Scherzer (3.52).

Wins: 7^th

Only six Tiger pitchers have more victories than JV’s 183 as a Tiger: Tommy Bridges (194), Jack Moris (198), Hal Newhouser (20), Mickey Lolich (207), George Mullin (209) and Hooks Dauss (223).

Losses: 9^th

JV opened 2026 with one loss – he left in the sixth inning facing another on Saturday – leaving him at 115, just ahead of Frank Lary (110) and wel behind 1930s ace Tommy Bridges (138). (Hooks Dauss is the franchise leader, at 182.)

WHIP: 8^th

JV’s walks and hits per inning pitched – 1.192 – comes in eighth in franchise history, right there with early franchise star Bill Donovan (1.192) and just ahead of ex-teammate Max Scherzer (1.197). (Another former teammate, Tarik Skubal, is No. 1, at 1.012.)

Batters faced: 8^th

Verlander stood on the mound to face 10,432 hitters, nearly 4,500 fewer than the franchise leader, Hooks Dauss (14,912).

K/9: 4^th

Just three Tigers have been more productive in terms of strikeouts per nine innings; JV comes in at 8.496, behind only Matthew Boyd (8.749), Max Scherzer (9.604) and Tarik Skubal (10.477).

Appearances: 11^th

JV’s 382nd start as a Tiger left him well behind franchise leader John Hiller (545), but well ahead of No. 12, Guillermo “Willie” Hernández at 358.

Innings: 8^th

Verlander might have moved up a spot on this list had he been healthy all year; instead, he finishes with 2,520, behind Dizzy Trout (2591⅔) and ahead of Earl Whitehill (2171⅓).

Strikeouts: 2^nd

Only left-hander Mickey Lolich, at 2,679, had more strikeouts in the Old English “D” than Verlander’s 2,379.

Starts: 5^th

Another category in which JV could have moved up this season. Instead, he finishes at 382, behind Hooks Dauss (388), George Mullin (395), Jack Morris (408) and Mickey Lolich (459).

Shutouts: T-36^th

Pitching in a different era leaves Verlander low on the boards in both complete games (26) and shutouts (seven). He closes his career tied with Hank Aguirre, Paul Foytack, Ted Gray, Steve Gromek, Willie Mitchel, Don Mossi, Dave Rozema, Frank Tanana, Hal White, Milt Wilcox and Earl Wilson. (Mickey Lolich is the franchise leader, with 39 shutouts).

Home runs allowed: 3^rd

Again, a different era, in which the homer was far more prevalent, but this time, JV is near the top, with 243 dingers allowed, behind only Jack Morris (321) and Mickey Lolich (329).

Walks allowed: 9^th

Still, JV showed plenty of control, dishing out just 769 free passes. That’s 25 more than Dan Petry (744) in 10^th place, and 147 fewer than eighth-place Dizzy Trout (978). (At the top: Hal Newhouser, with 1,227.)

Hits allowed: 9^th

JV, at 2,236, is one of just nine Tigers with 2,000 hits allowed. He finishes ahead of Frank Lary (1,975) and well behind Hooks Dauss at No. 1 (3,407).

Ryan Ford is deputy sports editor for the Free Press and has been with Freep Sports since January 2006 – in Detroit for all but one of JV's starts as a Tiger. Contact him at [e-mail] or follow him on X (which used to be Twitter, y’know?) @theford and on BlueSky at @theford.bsky.social.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Justin Verlander makes final start: Where he stands in Detroit Tigers history