Verlander took the Detroit Tigers to the World Series twice (2006 & 2012), was a two-time league leader in Wins, a former ERA leader, and a former Cy Young/MVP winner. When the Tigers traded Verlander to Houston they thought (and many others) that he could not possibly have contributed to Houston anything remotely what he accomplished up in Michigan but he went 5-0 as an Astro in 2017 and was the American League Championship Series MVP. He followed that up by taking Houston to their first (and his first) World Series win.
Verlander was not a rent-a-player as he stayed with Houston and in 2018 was the Cy Young runner-up while finishing first in WHIP and Strikeouts. 2019 was even better, as he won the Cy Young, and led the AL in Wins (21), Innings Pitched (223), WHIP (0.803), and SO/BB (7.14). He led the Astros to another American League Pennant, but his team would lose to the Washington Nationals. Due to injuries, and Tommy John surgery, he missed most of 2020 and all of 2021 but even though wrote off the veteran, Verlander had a monster 2022.
In what was his last season in Houston, Verlander won the Cy Young, led the American League in Wins (18), ERA (1.75), ERA+ (220), and WHIP (0.829), and anchored the Astros to their second World Series Title. Verlander left in 2023 for the Mets, but that was shortlived, as New York sold off their assets, including Verlander back to Houston, where he helped them make the playoffs.
No player had a bigger impact in Houston in as short a time as Justin Verlander,, and after his second run in Houstin, he had a scillinating record of 73-28.
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