​Justin Verlander, widely regarded as one of the all-time great pitchers, is planning to retire after the 2026 season. The 43-year-old right-hander is currently on the Detroit Tigers’ injured list, bringing to a close a remarkable career that began when he was drafted second overall by Detroit in 2004. In a controversial draft decision, the San Diego Padres passed on Verlander to select local product Matt Bush with the first pick, a choice many fans and analysts later considered a misstep on par with historic draft misses.
Verlander made his professional debut in 2005, and during his lone minor league season he dominated with a 1.29 ERA over 118 innings across 20 starts, while also logging a handful of spot starts in the majors in July. He broke into the Tigers’ rotation in 2006, helping the team reverse a poor 2005 campaign that produced 71 wins into a 95-win season that culminated in a World Series appearance. In 2006, Verlander posted a team-best 3.63 ERA across 30 starts, earning him the American League Rookie of the Year Award and placing seventh in Cy Young voting while finishing 15th in MVP balloting. That year signaled the beginning of a sustained period of excellence that would define his career.
Verlander would go on to win the Cy Young Award three times and capture the American League MVP in 2011. He also achieved three additional top-five finishes in Cy Young voting and reached multiple other high placements in the Cy Young and MVP races, cementing his status as one of the era’s dominant pitchers. For years, it seemed Verlander would remain a Tiger for life; however, his career trajectory took a major turn when he was traded to the Houston Astros at the 2017 trade deadline. He remained with the Astros through 2022, though he missed the entire 2021 season due to Tommy John surgery. He joined the New York Mets for the 2023 season, before being reacquired by Houston at the 2023 trade deadline and pitching for the Astros through 2024. After stints with the San Francisco Giants in 2025, Verlander returned to Detroit in 2026, though injury limited him to a single appearance this season.
As of now, Verlander sits 8th on the all-time strikeout list with 3,554 and has 266 career wins, ranking 37th in that category. His 29th-place standing in games started and 66th in innings pitched reflect the durability and volume of workload he maintained over a storied career. In modern terms, his innings total stands well ahead of the next closest active pitcher in innings pitched—Max Scherzer, who ranks 141st—by more than 500 innings. Chris Sale trails by a substantial margin as the next notable figure, behind by roughly 1,500 innings.
On the all-time bWAR leaderboard for pitchers, Verlander sits at 24th, nestled between Mike Mussina and Nolan Ryan. His adjusted JAWS score places him 18th all time, between Eddie Plank and Gaylord Perry. As he approaches retirement at the end of the 2026 season, Verlander’s legacy is secure: a fiber of excellence that threaded together peak performance, longevity, and resilience through both triumph and adversity, a testament to an era-defining pitcher who left an indelible mark on the game.