When it was announced that Justin Verlander would be on a Zoom call, it was easy to anticipate that there would be some major news. The Houston Astros pitcher is recovering from Tommy John surgery and looking to set foot on the comeback trail even though he will not pitch this season. However, as he is already 38 years old, one could imagine that he was not interested in going through the rehab needed to continue his career.
Those rumors and questions got to the point where Verlander felt the need to address them. As it turns out, he does not plan on hanging up the cleats for a while.
Lol…. Man y’all are crazy. I’m not retiring! 🤣🤣. I was asked to do a zoom call to give updates to the media. 🤷🏻♂️ Sooooo here’s the update. I’m feeling awesome and plan on still pitching for a long time.
— Justin Verlander (@JustinVerlander) May 7, 2021
Houston Astros pitcher Justin Verlander has no plans on retiring
While the news that Verlander is feeling great and is planning on returning to the mound, this is not necessarily good news for Houston. He is scheduled to be a free agent this offseason, as he is in the final year of a two year, $66 million extension. The Astros only received one start for that outing, a six inning outing on Opening Day last year before he went under the knife.
Verlander will certainly attract interest on the open market, perhaps even more than a 38 year old pitcher that missed most of the past two seasons would expect. He had dominated in 2019, leading the AL with 21 wins and 223 innings en route to the Cy Young award. Verlander posted a 2.58 ERA and a 0.803 WHiP that season, striking out an even 300 batters.
Teams will need to see that he is healthy first. Based on the typical timeline for recover and rehab, Verlander should be ready for a showcase in October or November, giving teams plenty of time to deliberate bringing him on board.
It will also be interesting to see if the Astros look to bring him back. Houston’s rotation is set to lose several arms this offseason, and Verlander could be a bargain if he is healthy. As one of the few true aces left in the game today, he would still be a valuable part of the Astros postseason hopes.
Questions had begun to circulate about Justin Verlander’s future because he had a Zoom call set up. The Houston Astros pitcher is sticking around for a while longer.