Justin Verlander, one of the all time great pitchers who will almost certainly be a first ballot Hall of Famer, has announced that he will be retiring at the end of the 2026 season.
The 43 year old Verlander, who is currently on the injured list for the Detroit Tigers, was originally drafted 2nd overall in the 2004 draft by the Tigers, with the San Diego Padres making a Steve Chilcott/Reggie Jackson-level bad decision in passing on Verlander to take local product Matt Bush with the first overall pick. Verlander made his professional debut in 2005 and, in his one minor league season, put up a 1.29 ERA in 118 innings over 20 starts that year while also making a couple of spot starts in the big leagues in July.
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Verlander started the 2006 season in the rotation for a Tigers team that made a tremendous turnaround, going from 71 wins in 2005 to 95 wins and a World Series appearance in 2006. Verlander put up a team-best 3.63 ERA in 30 starts, winning the American League Rookie of the Year Award, finishing 7th in the Cy Young balloting and 15th in the MVP voting.
It was the start of a lengthy run of greatness for Verlander, who ended up winning the Cy Young Award three times and being named the American League MVP in 2011, as well as having three 2nd place finishes in the Cy Young voting and three other top five finishes.
Verlander seemed like someone who would be a Tiger for life until he was sent to Houston at the 2017 trade deadline. Verlander was with the Astros until 2022 — although missing the entire 2021 season due to Tommy John surgery — before signing with the New York Mets prior to the 2023 season. The Astros acquired him at the deadline again in 2023, however, and he pitched for the Astros through 2024. After spending 2025 with the San Francisco Giants, he returned to Detroit for 2026, though he has only be able to make one appearance this season due to injury.
Verlander is currently 8th on the all time strikeout list, with 3,554, and his 266 career wins are 37th all time. He’s also 29th in games started and 66th all time in innings. To put his innings total into perspective with the modern game, the next closest active pitcher in innings pitched is Max Scherzer, who is #141 on the list, more than 500 innings behind Verlander. The next after that? Chris Sale, who is 357th all time, and almost 1500 innings behind Verlander.
Verlander is 24th all time in career bWAR for pitchers, between Mike Mussina and Nolan Ryan, and his adjusted JAWS score is 18th all time, between Eddie Plank and Gaylord Perry.
