Welcome back: Justin Verlander shines after two-year hiatus

Houston Astros right-hander Justin Verlander returned to the mound for the first time in nearly two years on Friday and showed he still has plenty left

What a welcome sight for the Houston Astros: Justin Verlander, his familiar 6-5 frame filling out the Astros’ blue and orange jersey, back where he belongs on a Major League mound.

Verlander returned to action on Friday for the first time in 602 days, pitching two scoreless innings against the St. Louis Cardinals at Roger Dean Stadium in Jupiter, Florida. After nearly two years away, it was like he never left.

His fastball was buzzing. Verlander threw 15 of them, reaching as high as 95.9 mph and averaging 94.8 mph. In his Cy Young Award season of 2019, he averaged 94.7 mph with his fastball. His slider was sharp, getting Paul Goldschmidt, the Cardinals Silver Slugger first baseman, to swing and miss for strike three and the second out of the first inning. After opening the game by getting Tommy Edman to hit a weak grounder down the first base line that Verlander fielded and flipped to first, Tyler O’Neill rolled over a slider and grounded to second to end the inning.

Verlander wasn’t quite as flawless in the second, walking Harrison Bader on a 3-1 slider that missed high, but he still escaped any damage. He got two quick strikes on Nolan Arenado before getting the All-Star third baseman to ground out. Dylan Carlson popped up for the second out before Verlander got his second strikeout of the game, freezing Paul DeJong with a changeup.

Verlander threw 31 pitches, 18 of them for strikes. His final line read two innings pitched, no hits or runs allowed, two strikeouts, and one walk. It was a solid, if not spectacular, performance from a pitcher trying to do what few others have attempted.

Justin Verlander faced a long road after Tommy John surgery

Verlander’s last start came on July 24, 2020, when he pitched six innings against Seattle in Houston’s opener during the pandemic-shortened season. He then went on the IL with a strained right forearm. After first trying to let the injury heal for a few weeks, Verlander announced the seemingly inevitable in September: he needed Tommy John surgery. He would miss the rest of the 2020 season and all of 2021. He signed a two-year, $50 million contract to stay with the Astros in December.

Turning 39 a month ago, Verlander would be the 11th pitcher to undergo Tommy John surgery at the age of 37 or older and return to the Majors. The last to do it was Bronson Arroyo in 2017, but Arroyo had 600 fewer innings of wear and tear on his arm and took three years to get back. Verlander is the third-oldest pitcher on an active roster, behind only Adam Wainwright (who opposed him on Friday as the Cardinals starter) and Boston’s Rich Hill.

“I think I’m kind of a case study on this one. A lot of guys that have Tommy John are younger or earlier in their career and don’t have 3,000 Major League innings under their belt,” Verlander said earlier this week. “I’m not going to try to set an expectation of less innings or do what I used to do. I’m going to go out there and try to replicate a normal season for myself and treat everything like I normally do and hope the muscle memory of 15 years…is still there.”

Verlander spent his year away from the game going on vacation with his family and watching his young daughter grow up. Already with two Cy Young Awards, an MVP, three no-hitters, and a World Series title, his spot in Cooperstown secured, he could’ve been content with the career he’s had. But that’s not what he decided to do, working and rehabbing to enjoy the moment he had on Friday.

The last time he played a full season, Verlander was the best pitcher in the AL. Tommy John may have robbed him of two years of his career, but he’s determined to show it didn’t take anything away from what made him one of the great pitchers of this generation.