Justin Verlander continues building Hall of Fame resume

Houston Astros ace Justin Verlander has been building a Hall of Fame resume in his 13-year MLB career, and he added another entry in his ledger on Saturday night.

There has never been a Major League Baseball player born in the state of Virginia to ascend to the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, but Justin Verlander of the Houston Astros and the pride of Goochland continues making his case to be the first MLB star from the Old Dominion State to achieve the game’s highest honor.

With a complete game on Saturday night in Game 2 of the ALCS with 13 strikeouts, Verlander has put another entry on what is shaping up to be a Hall of Fame resume.

At 34, Verlander is no spring chicken, but he looked every bit of 24 against the New York Yankees in his dominant outing. The single run he allowed came on a fluke ground-rule double aided by the strange dimensions of Minute Maid Park.

New York never mounted a serious challenge ,and ever hitter except Didi Gregorious struck out at least once as Verlander pumped 96 past them with a biting breaking ball to back up the heat. It was a start for the ages, and Verlander continues to stand alone among power pitchers and strikeout artists in the annals of MLB history.

Every serious MLB fan remembers Verlander’s dud in Game 1 of the 2012 World Series, when he was part of Pablo Sandoval‘s three-homer barrage. What is forgotten is that the big right-hander had a 0.74 ERA in three starts that year as the Detroit Tigers knifed through the American League side of the playoff bracket.

With his latest outing in the books, Verlander now has a career ERA of 3.18 in nearly 120 playoff innings.

For a brief moment in the 2014 season — his age-31 season — Verlander looked like a moral. He still managed to win 15 games, but had a 4.54 ERA. The following year, he was limited to only 20 starts, and the questions about his future began swirling. Verlander has answered those questions, and more, over the past two years. In 2016 and 2017, he is 31-17 with a 3.20 ERA and has struck out 9.8 per nine.

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Increased reliance on his slider has allowed Verlander to start a career renaissance the past two years. He is the oldest pitcher in the league cruising at 96 mph, but the slider has given him an additional swing-and-miss pitch that has aided in this resurgence.

Baseball has changed since the early 2000s when Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine and Roger Clemens were wrapping up their 300-win careers. No pitcher who has retired in recent years has come remotely close to reaching the exclusive 300-win club, and none of the league’s current stars are destined to get there. Mike Mussina, with his 270 career wins, has had a hard time getting himself inducted into the Hall of Fame.

For his part, Verlander has a much different resume for the Hall than Mussina. He was the most dominant pitcher in the American League for long stretches of his career. At 34, with 188 wins, topping 300 is out of the question, but he has much more black ink on the back of his baseball card than the average Hall of Famer.

Verlander has already led the league in a major statistical category 50 times, including two win titles and four strikeout crowns.

When his career does eventually reach its conclusion, Justin Verlander will have an undeniable case for the Hall of Fame. He has a Cy Young, a Rookie of the Year, an MVP and two no-hitters. He will be one of the first pitchers from his generation to test the BBWAA’s voters and their continued reliance on the win statistic to determine who gets past the gates of Cooperstown.

With five more strong seasons, Verlander will top 250 wins. That has not been enough for pitchers in previous decades to shed the Hall of Very Good label, but it will be enough for Verlander. He is one of the greatest power pitchers in MLB history and has the playoff legacy to back it up.

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Adding the ever-elusive World Series ring this year and stringing together a few more strong seasons will be enough to get Verlander to the Hall of Fame, and he shows no signs of slowing down.