The end of the line for a future Major League Baseball Hall of Famer comes on Saturday afternoon in Detroit.
Three-time Cy Young Award winner Justin Verlander will make his final career start for the Tigers in a celebratory day against the Pittsburgh Pirates.
The 43-year-old righty pitched only one game in March this season due to left hip inflammation and a left hamstring strain, hampering an emotional return to Detroit.
Verlander was one of the most dominant pitchers baseball has seen over the last
50 years, totaling a career 81.8 WAR, 266 wins, and a 3.33 ERA.
He’s a member of the 3,000-strikeout club and ranks eighth all time with 3,554 punchouts in 21 seasons.
Verlander won the Cy Young in 2011, 2019, and 2022, the latter two with the Houston Astros.
A two-time World Series champion with Houston in 2017 and 2022, Verlander still consistently threw upper-90s with his fastball and was the Astros’ ace during two historic runs in the playoffs
The 2006 AL Rookie of the Year also won the ERA title twice, won the pitcher Triple Crown in 2011, and was a 10-time All-Star selection. Rob Manfred named Verlander an honorary All-Star for the game in Philadelphia this past summer.
The 2011 AL MVP pitched one of the most incredible seasons of all time, leading the AL in WAR (8.6), starts (34), wins (24), innings (251), ERA (2.40), ERA+ (172), WHIP (0.92), and strikeouts (250).
Verlander told AJ Pierzynski of Foul Territory that he’s going to throw “until my arm falls off” in his final appearance. The Tigers are honoring Verlander on Friday and giving away Verlander bobbleheads to fans coming to watch the Detroit great.
First pitch is at 1:10 p.m. as baseball says goodbye to one of the game’s all-time great pitchers.
