Justin Brooks Verlander ( ; born February 20, 1983) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played 21 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Detroit Tigers, Houston Astros, New York Mets, and San Francisco Giants from 2005 to 2026. A three-time Cy Young Award winner, an American League Most Valuable Player Award recipient, and a two-time World Series champion, Verlander is considered one of the greatest pitchers in baseball history.
Born in Manakin Sabot, Virginia, Verlander attended Old Dominion University (ODU) and played college baseball for the Monarchs. He broke the Monarchs' and Colonial Athletic Association's career records for strikeouts. At the 2003 Pan American Games, Verlander helped lead the United States national team to a silver medal. The Tigers selected Verlander with the second overall pick of the 2004 MLB draft, and he made his major league debut with the Tigers in 2005. He was the AL Rookie of the Year in 2006. In 2007, Verlander pitched the first no-hitter at Comerica Park.Verlander makes history in Detroit MLB, June 12, 2007 In 2009, he led the AL in wins and strikeouts, both for the first time. Verlander produced his most successful season in 2011, pitching his second career no-hitterDetroit Tigers' Jason Verlander tosses second career no-hitter in win over Blue Jays MLive, May 7, 2011 and winning the Pitching Triple Crown, the AL Cy Young Award (unanimously), the AL MVP Award, and the Sporting News Player of the Year Award. Verlander played for Detroit for 12 years, becoming the ace in their starting rotation and a key figure in four consecutive AL Central division championships (2011–2014) and two AL pennants (in 2006 and 2012).
The Tigers traded Verlander to the Astros before the 2017 trade deadline, and he went undefeated in his first five starts heading into the postseason. He was named AL Championship Series MVP and was co-winner of the Babe Ruth Award as the Astros won the 2017 World Series. In 2018, Verlander earned his 200th career win. In 2019, Verlander became the sixth pitcher in MLB history to throw three career no-hitters. He also had his first career 300-strikeout season and won his second Cy Young award while leading the Astros to their second pennant in three seasons. Verlander missed most of the 2020 season and all of the 2021 season due to injury. He returned in 2022 and proceeded to win 18 games with a sub-2.00 ERA on his way to leading the Astros to their second world championship. He received his third Cy Young Award that offseason, making him the first Astro to win multiple Cy Young Awards. Verlander signed with the Mets in December 2022, was traded back to the Astros in August 2023, and signed with the Giants in January 2025. Following one season in San Francisco, Verlander returned to the Tigers on a one-year contract in 2026; halfway through the season, he announced that he would be retiring at the end of the 2026 season.
Verlander was a ten-time MLB All-Star and led the AL in strikeouts five times, in earned run average twice, and in wins three times. He is one of eleven pitchers all-time to record 3,500 career strikeouts, and ranks eighth all-time as of his retirement with a total of 3,560.
Early life Justin Brooks Verlander was born on February 20, 1983, in Manakin Sabot, Virginia. Verlander played Little League at Tuckahoe Little League in Richmond, Virginia. Verlander's father Richard sent him to The Richmond Baseball Academy when he was young. He was able to throw an 84 mph (135 km/h) fastball shortly after joining the academy. His velocity plateaued at during his senior year at Goochland High School, during which he was sidetracked by strep throat.Verlander makes his pitch Yahoo!, August 16, 2006.
College career Verlander's velocity increased to during his first year with Old Dominion. Verlander, a , right-handed pitcher, played for the Old Dominion University baseball team for three years. On May 17, 2002, he struck out a then-school record 17 batters against James Madison. In 2003, he set a school single-season record by recording 139 strikeouts. In 2004, he broke his own record establishing a new Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) record with 151 strikeouts. Verlander completed his career as the all-time strikeout leader at ODU, the CAA, and the Commonwealth of Virginia (Division I) history with 427 in innings. During his three years, he averaged 11.5 strikeouts per nine innings and his career collegiate earned run average (ERA) was 2.57.
He was named CAA Rookie of the Year in 2002 and earned All-CAA honors in 2003 and 2004. Verlander was named the ODU Alumni Association's Male Athlete of the Year in 2004 and was the second overall pick in the 2004 Major League Baseball draft by the Detroit Tigers.
Professional career Draft and minor leagues Verlander's professional baseball career began when he was selected by the Detroit Tigers with the second overall pick in the 2004 MLB draft. He signed a contract on October 25, 2004. Verlander made his professional debut in 2005. He played for two of Detroit's minor league affiliates: the Lakeland Flying Tigers (High-A) and the Erie SeaWolves (Double-A), and also started two games for the Tigers in July. After posting a 9–2 record and a 1.67 ERA in 13 starts for Lakeland, Verlander joined the SeaWolves on June 20.
Detroit Tigers (2005–2017) 2005–2006: MLB debut, AL Rookie of the Year, and World Series
Verlander made his MLB debut on July 4, 2005. He went 0–2 with a 7.15 ERA in his only two starts of the season.
He made the 2006 Tigers roster out of spring training. In his first full Major League season, Verlander went 17–9 with a 3.63 ERA, striking out 124 batters in 186 innings. On July 4, 2006, at McAfee Coliseum in Oakland, California, Verlander, Joel Zumaya, and Fernando Rodney each threw multiple fastballs over . It was the first time in MLB history that three pitchers on the same team had done so during a game. He allowed one stolen base in 2006 and picked off seven baserunners. In 2006, he became the first rookie pitcher in the history of the game to win 10 games before the end of June and was named AL Rookie of the Year at the end of the season. During Game 1 of the 2006 World Series, Verlander was the Tigers starting pitcher against Anthony Reyes of the St. Louis Cardinals; it was the first instance in which two rookies faced off to start a World Series. The Tigers went on to lose the series to the Cardinals in five games.
2007–2008: First no-hitter and All-Star Game
Verlander's success continued in 2007, as he accumulated 18 wins and posted a 3.66 ERA with 183 strikeouts in innings. On June 12, Verlander recorded a no-hitter against the Milwaukee Brewers, striking out twelve and walking four while throwing a fastball .
In 2008, Verlander lost four consecutive games before winning his first one. He led MLB in losses with 17. Overall, he finished the 2008 season with an 11–17 win-loss record and a 4.84 ERA.
2009–2010: First-time major league wins and strikeouts leader Verlander became the first Major League starter in 24 years to load the bases with nobody out in the ninth inning or later and get out of it without allowing a run when he pulled off the feat on July 24, 2009. Then-Mariners hurler Mike Moore was the last to do it, on September 16, 1985. He finished the 2009 season with a 19–9 record, an ERA of 3.45 and an MLB-leading 269 strikeouts, the most by a Tiger since Mickey Lolich's 308 in 1971,Major League Leader board 2009: Pitchers FanGraph.com while his 10.1/9 IP strikeout rate led all American League starters. His 19 wins led the majors this season. Verlander finished third in the AL Cy Young Award voting behind winner Zack Greinke and runner-up Félix Hernández.
In the offseason, Verlander and the Tigers reached a deal for a five-year, $80 million contract extension. On July 3, Verlander earned his 10th win of the 2010 season. This marked the fourth time in five years he has had double-digit wins before the All-Star break. On September 18, Verlander beat the Chicago White Sox throwing a complete game to earn his 17th win of the season. Verlander was the first pitcher to win 17 games in four of his first five seasons since Dwight Gooden.Sizemore's shot backs Verlander in Chicago MLB, September 18, 2010 He finished the 2010 season with an 18–9 record and a 3.37 ERA while fanning 219 batters in innings.
2011: Second no-hitter, first Cy Young award-winning season On April 22, 2011, Verlander recorded his 1,000th career strikeout in a 9–3 win over the White Sox, becoming the 15th Tiger to do so.Verlander notches 1,000th K in Tigers' win MLB, April 22, 2011 On May 7, he recorded his second career no-hitter against the Toronto Blue Jays, throwing four strikeouts, walking one batter, and throwing at a maximum speed of on the radar gun. He carried a perfect game into the eighth inning before allowing a walk to J. P. Arencibia, who was the only Blue Jays batter to reach base in the game. Arencibia was erased on a double play, so Verlander faced a minimum of 27 batters for the game. He became the second Tigers pitcher since Virgil Trucks, and the 30th pitcher in the history of baseball, to throw multiple no-hitters. On his next start, against the Kansas City Royals on May 13 Verlander took a no-hitter into the sixth inning before surrendering a triple. Altogether, he pitched consecutive no-hit innings which were spread over three starts.
On June 14, Verlander took a no-hitter into the eighth inning. He pitched innings until he gave up a base hit to Cleveland's Orlando Cabrera. Verlander ended up with a complete-game shutout, allowing two hits. In his next start on June 19, he threw another complete game allowing only a solo home run to Ty Wigginton.Tigers' Justin Verlander takes no-hitter into sixth inning of 3–1 victory over Royals MLive, May 13, 2011 On June 25, he recorded a career-high 14 strikeouts against Arizona.Hang 10: Dominant Verlander drives Detroit – Ace fans career-high 14 D-backs, pulls Tigers into first-place tie MLB, June 26, 2011 Verlander was selected to his fourth AL All-Star team but he was unable to participate in the game due to the scheduling of his starts.
On July 31, Verlander took a no-hitter into the eighth inning against the Los Angeles Angels before surrendering a single to Maicer Izturis. He walked two and struck out nine. On August 11, Verlander won his 100th major league game against the Cleveland Indians. A victory on August 27 made Verlander the first Tiger since Bill Gullickson in 1991 to win 20 games, and the first Major League pitcher since Curt Schilling in 2002 to reach 20 wins before the end of August.
By the end of the season, Verlander had won the Triple Crown of pitching in the AL, leading the league in wins (24), strikeouts (250; tied for sixth most in Tigers history) and ERA (2.40). Los Angeles Dodgers left-handed pitcher Clayton Kershaw had clinched the National League (NL) Triple Crown earlier in the week, making it the first season since 1924 featuring a Triple Crown pitcher in both leagues. Verlander also led the AL in innings pitched (251) and win-loss percentage (.828; sixth-best in Tigers history), while posting a Major League best 0.92 WHIP. , Verlander remains the most recent pitcher to have pitched 250 innings in one season. Throughout the season, he never had an outing in which he threw fewer than six innings or 100 pitches. Through 2011, Verlander had the best career strikeouts/9 innings percentage in Tigers history (8.3), and the second-best career win-loss percentage (.652; also the fourth-best percentage of all active pitchers).
In 2011, Verlander received the AL Sporting News Pitcher of the Year Award, Sporting News Player of the Year Award, a Players Choice Award for Player the Year and Most Outstanding American League pitcher, and a USA Today American League Cy Young. Verlander was named the cover athlete of Major League Baseball 2K12.