Justin Verlander still optimistic about 300-win milestone after turbulent season originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
SAN FRANCISCO — Justin Verlander is 555 starts into his MLB career, but he has been reminded over and over again this season that the learning never stops. Verlander spent much of his summer working on mechanical adjustments to try and be more deceptive, and the endless tinkering with his slider led to a breakthrough that pushed him to new heights down the stretch.
But in the ninth inning of his final game of the season, it was a different tweak that needed to be made. With career win No. 266 on the line, Verlander watched nervously as the Colorado Rockies put the tying run on third against closer Ryan Walker. He pulled out all the stops.
“I found a different place to sit in the locker room than I had all season,” he said, smiling. “I had a different brand of beer. I just was doing whatever I could.”
Spencer Bivens entered and got a strikeout before loading the bases. When he induced a popup down the left field line, Matt Chapman chased it down and went into the netting to end the game and clinch a 4-3 win for Verlander and the Giants. This one got him into a tie for 37th on MLB’s all-time wins list, but the Giants and Verlander would have expected a lot more if you told them in the spring that he would make 29 starts.
When he signed a one-year contract, Verlander made no secret of the fact that he hoped this season could give him a strong shot at pursuing 300 wins. He likely will be the last pitcher to ever have a real chance at it, although that effort has taken a big hit this year.
The win on Saturday got him to 4-11, and while he was inconsistent early, a lot of this was out of his hands. Verlander finished second in the majors with seven starts in which he left with the lead and didn’t get a win. It didn’t help that he received three or fewer runs of support in 23 of his 29 starts.
This is the first time in his lengthy career, which reached 20 years of service time recently, that Verlander made more than 20 starts and didn’t reach double-digit wins. He admitted Saturday that his odds of reaching 300 are much lower than they were in March. He currently sits at 266.
Verlander will turn 43 next spring, but he said he doesn’t think 300 is now “out of the question.” Still, he said, “it’s more difficult, for sure.”
“If you make 29 starts, you’d like to win 10, 15 games,” he said. “It wasn’t in the cards this year, but maybe this year wasn’t meant to be for wins. Maybe this year was meant to be kind of for health and refinding myself and getting used to taking the ball every five or six days and just kind of going out there and being able to log some innings. Maybe that’ll carry me where I need to go. I don’t know.”
The big question now is whether the pursuit will continue in orange and black. Verlander said that while this year was a struggle at times on the field, he loved being with this group of players and in the Giants’ clubhouse. He was a willing leader, and the Giants believe his impact will be felt for years to come. But he hasn’t given much thought to what’s next.
Between the chaos of a big league season and the fact that he and his wife, Kate Upton, had their second child this summer, there hasn’t been much time.
“I’ve been scratching and clawing and just trying to find anything to be successful and pitch well for the San Francisco Giants,” he said.
If Verlander wants to come back, he still would fit well. The Giants have Logan Webb, Robbie Ray and Landen Roupp locked into their rotation for next year, but they need multiple options behind them to bridge the gap to any younger starters who prove ready at some point. They were reminded this season of how easy it is to run out of pitching.
Before Verlander’s final start, manager Bob Melvin said he’s hopeful a reunion is coming, but he noted that there will be a lot more interest from others this time around. Last year, Verlander was coming off a season wrecked by a nerve issue. This year, he posted a 1.96 ERA in his final seven starts.
Melvin wondered if Verlander has pitched well enough to get multi-year offers, even as the oldest player in the big leagues. But that might not be something Verlander wants, anyway. He said at this point of his career, he probably prefers to go year to year.
Whether it’s in orange and black or some other color, Verlander proved in the second half that he can still get big league hitters out. That was a big question in the first half, but Verlander will head into the offseason healthy, coming off a strong month, and hopeful that the chase for 300 can gain some steam in 2026.
Perhaps, he said, this up and down 2025 season will end up helping in an odd way.
“I’ve always said that I look back at some of the toughest moments of my career — core surgery, Tommy John — and when I look back at those now, I look back at them really fondly,” he said. “I learned so much through those processes to allow me to sustain the success that I did after those instances took place and met people that have helped me along the way. I hope and look back at this first half as the same type of thing.
“Maybe a few years from now you get that 300th win and it’s like, ‘Man, that first half that I really grinded through in San Francisco really taught me a lot and allowed me to get where I wanted to.’ You’ve got to have that mindset.”
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