Following the combined no-hitter on Saturday, the red hot Astros made more history the next day. With his 4th strikeout of the game, Justin Verlander became the 7th pitcher in major league history with 9 or more seasons with 200 strikeouts. That’s pretty impressive considering not only how many incredible pitchers there have been, but also how hard of a position it is to be dominant for so long.
Many of the greats have fallen to “dead arms”, Tommy John surgery, or a list of any other problems that can go wrong with so much pressure on one arm. But Verlander has been dominant for 15 seasons and doesn’t look like he’s slowing down anytime soon.
Despite being 36 years old, an age when most players are already on the decline, Verlander seems to be getting better. He is leading the league both in wins and ERA and is a great team leader on one of the best pitching rotations in recent history.
John Smoltz went as far as to say that the 2019 Astros with the recent addition of Zach Greinke, are better than the 90’s Braves, widely considered the best starting rotation in history. Houston’s top 3 of Verlander, Gerrit Cole, and Greinke are a trio that no team wants to face come playoff time.
The Astros, at 73-40 have the best record in the American League and seem unstoppable right now. They have won 14 of their last 17 games and outscored the Mariners 22-3 in a dominant 3 game sweep. This was all before they picked up former Cy Young award winner Zach Greinke last week, who is scheduled to make his first start today.
As for Verlander, the group that he has joined after his 200th strikeout includes tying Bob Gibson and Pedro Martinez with 9 seasons. Tom Seaver (10), Roger Clemens (12), and Randy Johnson (13), stand a few ahead of him. And the strikeout king, Nolan Ryan (15), sits at the top. A pretty impressive list of Hall of Famers to join!
