Justin Verlander will celebrate his 42nd birthday in a largely unfamiliar place — in a Cactus League training camp for a club leaning on his veteran chops to galvanize a young and emerging staff.
Verlander, the three-time Cy Young Award winner who’s said he wants to pitch until he’s 45 with at least 300 wins on his resume, will continue that quest with the San Francisco Giants after agreeing to a one-year deal Tuesday night.
It’s the first foray with a West Coast team for Verlander, who won his first Cy Young Award as a Detroit Tiger in 2011, then added two more Cy Youngs as a Houston Astros in 2019 and 2022. Verlander signed a two-year, $86.6 million deal with the New York Mets before the 2023 season, then was dealt back to Houston.
Now, he goes West for the first time, beginning this campaign with 262 wins and, once again, a lack of ace status on his staff.
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That distinction belongs to Logan Webb, who made his first All-Star appearance in pitching 204 2/3 innings last season. Verlander will slot in behind him along with returning veterans Robbie Ray (also a former AL Cy Young winner) and Jordan Hicks. Verlander will aim to provide innings and gravitas to ease the burden on a group of young pitchers that include lefty Kyle Harrison and right-hander Hayden Birdsong.
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Yet the Giants surely know they won’t likely be getting vintage Verlander.
He pitched to a 5.48 ERA last season, and spent two stints on the injured list, the latter a two-month absence due to a neck ailment. Yet as recently as 2023, he was able to give the Astros and New York Mets 162 1/3 innings and a 3.49 ERA. A year earlier, he won the AL Cy Young with Houston after sitting out the entire 2021 season recovering from Tommy John surgery.
The Giants won’t expect such boffo results. But they’ll be happy to benefit from Verlander’s larger mission: A march to 300 wins and seemingly eternal life on the mound.
(This story was updated because an earlier version included a misidentified player.)
