My Favorite Wife: The Justin Verlander Thread

I agree with the URL here: unlikely but not impossible.

https://www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/will-justin-verlander-get-to-300-wins-why-milestone-is-unlikely-but-not-impossible-for-astros-veteran/

6% according to the Favorite Toy. The first necessity is someone who actually cares about getting there, and Verlander does seem to check that box. With the indifference to pitcher wins in the analytic era, it might be more of a curiosity than anything else if he managed to pull it off.

His 0.4 fWAR/-0.1 bWAR so far this season isn't doing him a lot of favors in the projections department.

Which team would be willing to roster him for the sake of vanity counting stats when he's marginally above replacement and in questionable health?

The Angels

Which team would be willing to roster him

most of them?

Has he ever looked worse?

0-3, 6.93 ERA, 39 avg GameScore over last 5 starts against mostly <.500 teams.

Feel like he looks worse every start, maybe he’s not recovering as well as he used to after games

I get this mental image of him, Scherzer, and Kershaw limping to the finish line, waiting to see which one falls down first and withdraws from the race.

The Dodgers want Kershaw to be back and ready for the playoffs. If they need him...good luck, L.A.

I've never seen a more cursed starting rotation predictable outcome.

Has Scherzer been sighted at all? I know DeGrom was throwing quite recently

Verlander struggling since return from IL, only 71 ip for season, so Mets off the hook for $17 mil in '25. Scherzer on IL again, only 39 ip. Cohen's decision to eat money/move on from both last year paved the way for '24 success, with Stearns' smart signings of Severino/Manaea.

— John Harper (@NYNJHarper) September 3, 2024

I was going to include deGrom in that group, but I read he's pitching well in the minors--the finish line still seems a ways down the road for him (unless he just suddenly decides it isn't worth it anymore). Scherzer, not sure what's going on.

Verlander and Scherzer tied as the active leaders in strikeouts with 3,405 (in 3,397 and 2,874 IP, respectively)

(xpost) "Worth it" in terms of what he puts his body through, I should say--obviously, it's really worth it in other ways.

In deGrom's last 254.2 IP (2020-2023), which at one point might've been a not atypical number for a starting pitcher --

397 Ks, 0.734 whip, 192 ERA+, 2.12 ERA

no amount of flashy stats can combat how frustrated all of us are to not see him pitch in his prime

Otm

no amount of flashy stats can combat how frustrated all of us are to not see him pitch in his prime

Casas stood at his locker inside the visitors' clubhouse, preparing for an interview following the Sox's crucial series-clinching win against the Astros. A clubhouse attendant approached Casas's area, gathering his game-worn gray New Balance cleats, packing the first baseman's bag as the team prepared to head back to Boston.

"Excuse me, don't take those please," Casas said to the clubbie.
Casas turned the cleats around, showing that they had been authenticated.
Why?
"(Those are the cleats worn)on my Justin
Verlander hit,' Casas said.

no amount of flashy stats can combat how frustrated all of us are to not see him pitch in his prime

― Michael F Gill, Tuesday, September 3, 2024 5:22 PM (yesterday)

I feel like I just got carded at the bodega.

It may hurt more as a Mets fan.

yikes, just when you thought he couldn't look worse...

That's got to be one of his half-dozen worst starts ever.