Top 10 starting pitchers in MLB right now

4. Justin Verlander

In a single postseason, 34-year-old Justin Verlander pushed himself from merely being in the conversation as a likely Hall of Famer to a slam-dunk candidate. After being convinced to accept a trade to the Houston Astros, Verlander went 5-0 for them down the stretch with a 1.06 ERA and 43 strikeouts in 34 innings. Apparently, that was just a warmup for the playoffs.

The six-time All-Star was the MVP of the ALCS after winning two games and allowing a single run in 16 innings. By the time the Astros were crowned World Series champions, Verlander had gone 4-1 with a 2.21 ERA in six appearances and 36.2 innings with 36 strikeouts.

Verlander has sparked a career revival over the past two years after looking like a shell of the former Cy Young and MVP while dealing with injuries and flagging velocity in 2014 and 2015. With increased reliance on his slider, Verlander looks like he still has plenty in the tank entering his age-35 season. Even considering his missed time in 2015, the right-hander is 36-25 with a 3.24 ERA over the past three years and is still striking out over a batter an inning.

If you’re looking for signs that Verlander is set to enter the downward arc of his career, keep looking. His fastball still averaged nearly 96 mph last year and opponents hit only .205 against the pitch with a 20 percent whiff rate. By refining his slider, which was whiffed on over a third of the time last year, Verlander has made his fastball that much more effective. While he’s no longer throwing harder than anyone else in the league, Verlander is still getting more out of his heat than almost every other starter in baseball.