Every free agent fans should be watching on the Astros, Phillies during the World Series
Astros possible free agents: Justin Verlander could leave Houston
- Starting pitcher Justin Verlander (player option)
- Relief pitcher Will Smith (team option)
- DH/1B/OF Trey Mancini (mutual option)
- First baseman Yuli Gurriel
- Catcher Christian Vazquez
- Utility man Aledmys Diaz
- Relief pitcher Rafael Montero
- Catcher Jason Castro
For the Astros, Justin Verlander is the best player of this group. In the regular season this year, Verlander went 18-4 wins (the 18 wins led the AL) with a 1.75 ERA (led the majors) in 28 starts. In 175 innings, he had 185 strikeouts, a 220 ERA+ (led the majors), a 0.829 WHIP (led the majors), and he averaged 6.0 hits (best in the majors), 1.5 walks, and 9.5 walks per nine innings.
However, he was awful for the Astros in Game 1 of the World Series, further cementing that he is not a good postseason pitcher and an awful World Series pitcher. In fact, among pitchers with at least 30 innings pitched in the World Series, Verlander has the worst ERA of all pitchers at 6.09.
Worst ERA in World Series history (min. 30 IP):
— Paul Casella (@Paul_CasellaMLB) October 29, 2022
- Justin Verlander: 6.07
- Carl Erskine: 5.83
- Don Sutton: 5.26
- Gary Nolan: 4.96
- Al Leiter: 4.59
The only player not on the Astros World Series roster is Jason Castro, who has been on the 60-day IL since late June. In Game 1, all of the players besides Smith and Castro appeared in the game for Houston.