Detroit Tigers: Justin Verlander Battling For 2019 Cy Young Award
By Tyler Kotila
Former Detroit Tigers ace Justin Verlander will pitch in potential 2019 ALCS clinching game for the Houston Astros this week. However, he could be adding more hardware to his trophy case this fall besides a possible World Series ring.
The Houston Astros are looking to make another deep postseason run with an electric pitching staff, at the forefront of that pitching staff is very familiar to the Detroit Tigers fans.
Justin Verlander seems to have found the fountain of youth and has not slowed down in his ability whatsoever. The Astros have more than just Verlander in that deep rotation with Gerrit Cole and Zack Greinke in the playoff rotation.
This fall, Verlander will be in an intense battle for the 2019 American League Cy Young Award with other Astros right-hander Cole. In 2019, Verlander was 21-6 with a 2.58 ERA, a 0.80 WHIP, and 300 punch-outs through 223 innings pitched.
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The Astros acquired Verlander back in 2017, and since then, they have seen Verlander continue to be dominant on the mound and not get worse over time. Cole could sweep in and steal the Cy Young award from Verlander because of his incredible year on the bump.
While toeing the rubber for the Astros in 2019, Cole went 20-5 with 2.50 ERA, 0.90 WHIP, and 326 strikeouts through 212.1 innings pitched. He was the MLB league leader in strikeouts with his 326 punch-outs helping the Astros get back into the postseason. It will make for a great for a Cy Young Award race that will ultimately come down to how the voters decide.
As mentioned above, Verlander was dealt away by the Detroit Tigers in 2017 when the Tigers brought in pitcher Franklin Perez, outfielder Daz Cameron, and catcher Jake Rogers. The Detroit Tigers viewed this as a win since Verlander was “on the downturn” and “aging” while he has done quite an excellent job of proving that to be the opposite.
The Tigers are just now seeing the Major League debut of these prospects with Jake Rogers cracking the big league roster this year while Verlander is contending for a Cy Young award. In a rebuild, this would be expected, but it’s tough to stomach the team’s former ace going out there and pitching a season where he could very well earn a Cy Young Award after he was supposed to be “aging” in his career.
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For now, Tigers fans can watch the Astros try to capture another World Series title with Cole and Verlander leading the way for the pitching staff. While doing so, fans can think about how the future value of Jake Rogers should be exciting and do not forget about Daz Cameron and Franklin Perez. The value of the trade will recoup itself, eventually… I can only hope for the sake of this rebuild.