From Tommy John to Cy Young: Astros ace Justin Verlander named AL’s best pitcher in a landslide

© Karen Warren, Staff Photographer

Justin Verlander is the first Astros pitcher to win two Cy Young Awards. Other Houston pitchers to earn the honor were Dallas Keuchel (2015), Roger Clemens (2004) and Mike Scott (1986).

Fourteen months ago, discretion bested valor, and Justin Verlander shut himself down. His team neared a pennant with a pitching staff in tatters. Verlander ramped up, reported no soreness in his reconstructed right elbow, and weighed whether to pitch during the Astros’ 2021 postseason run. His surgeon strongly advised against it. Other Tommy John surgery recipients suggested he follow a more prudent — and prolonged — road to recovery.

Verlander’s reputation did not permit restraint. He built a career by taking the baseball every fifth day and posting for his team without any protest. So few of his ilk still existed in a sport diminishing the meaning of starting pitching. Verlander compiled 200-inning seasons while his counterparts struggled to surpass 150. Telling him to temper his tenacity seemed impossible.

Tommy John surgery made it mandatory. The operation and its aftermath is an ostracizing experience, a 14- or 16-month journey during which isolation is king and incremental progress is celebrated. Verlander didn’t endure all of it at his age just for one last look at prominence. He did it with six or seven more seasons in mind, foresight that forced him to focus more on the future than a fervent desire to rush back. 

Before Verlander, only 10 pitchers who underwent the surgery at age 37 or older returned to pitch in the major leagues, according to MLB.com. Verlander received the operation at 37. He won his second Cy Young Award a season earlier, but the injury invited wonder whether these were the waning days of a dominant career. Verlander never wavered from a desire to pitch until age 45. 

To him, Tommy John surgery became “just a means to an end,” another impediment in a pursuit of immortality. He surpassed it this season, continuing on a path few pitchers have ever traveled.

On Wednesday, Verlander captured the third American League Cy Young Award of his career in a unanimous vote, completing one of baseball’s most captivating comebacks while cementing his place alongside pitching greatness. 

Verlander is the 11th pitcher to win the Cy Young Award at least three times. Max Scherzer and Clayton Kershaw are the only other two active pitchers with three apiece. Only Verlander and Sandy Koufax have won three Cy Young Awards and tossed at least three no-hitters. 

At 39 years and 269 days old, Verlander is the oldest Cy Young winner since Gaylord Perry captured the award in 1978. Perry and Roger Clemens are the only two men to win Cy Youngs in their 40s. 

Verlander is the first pitcher to win the award twice while an Astro. Houston pitchers have won three Cy Youngs since the franchise moved to the American League — Dallas Keuchel in 2015 and Verlander in 2019 and 2022. Verlander’s win Wednesday is the fifth in franchise history. Mike Scott (1986) and Clemens (2004) won the award when the Astros were in the National League.

Returning to the mound 18 months after a complete elbow reconstruction, Verlander authored the greatest statistical season of his career, complete with a renewed perspective on life and a sport that’s dictated so much of it. He smiled more, refused to sweat the small things, and sought better relationships with his teammates. Pitching every five or six days became common after he had spent so much of his career concentrating on four days of rest. 

Strikeouts or swing-and-miss pitches weren’t as frequent, so weak contact became his best friend. He struck out 300 batters during his last Cy Young season in 2019. He totaled 185 during this one — not even the most on his own pitching staff — while generating just a 24.2 percent whiff rate. Each of his other two full seasons in Houston featured one higher than 31.6 percent

Verlander compensated by allowing an American League-low six hits per nine innings. Opponents finished the regular season with a .186 batting average and .498 OPS against him. Against a league that tailored its swings toward hitting elevated four-seam fastballs, Verlander continued to dominate with it. Opponents finished the season hitting .194 against Verlander’s fastball. 

Verlander, whose first Cy Young came with the Tigers in 2011, won this year’s major league ERA title with a career-low 1.75 mark. His 0.83 WHIP led the sport. So did his 220 ERA+, an advanced statistic that normalizes a player’s ERA across the league, accounting for factors like ballparks or opponents. League average ERA+ is 100. Verlander finished the season 120 points above it.

No other American League starter had an ERA+ higher than 180. None finished with an ERA lower than 2.20. Verlander threw nine fewer innings than the White Sox’s Dylan Cease and 21⅔ fewer than Toronto’s Alek Manoah, but neither finalist could close the other massive statistical gaps.

A calf injury in late August cost Verlander a chance to pitch 200 innings — perhaps the only goal he did not reach during this dominant comeback season. He finished at least six innings in 22 of his 28 regular-season starts, prolonging one of his pre-surgery trademarks. 

Verlander allowed one or no earned runs in 20 regular-season starts. He spearheaded the greatest pitching staff in Astros history but reserved his two worst starts of the season for October: Seattle knocked him around in Game 1 of the American League Division Series before Verlander blew a five-run lead in Game 1 of the World Series, adding another clunker to his confusing Fall Classic struggles.

The Astros again turned to Verlander in Game 5, offering the same type of scenario he stopped himself from trying last October. Rushing back would jeopardize all of the time and energy Verlander expended after his elbow surgery. 

The pragmatism, in part, allowed him to make 31 starts, approach 200 innings and be strong enough to sway control of a World Series. He threw five innings of one-run ball during Game 5. Houston’s bullpen protected the one-run lead Verlander handed it. He earned the first World Series win of his career and celebrated afterward like a child. Teammates treated him like a rookie inside the clubhouse. After so many seasons of one rarely being seen, a smile never left his face.