At 39 years old and in his first season back from Tommy John elbow surgery, Justin Verlander returned to the Houston Astros and completed one of the finest seasons of his career, which earned him his third Cy Young Award.
The right-hander was unanimously voted the 2022 American League Cy Young Award winner Wednesday by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America.
Chicago White Sox right-hander Dylan Cease (14-8, 2.20 ERA) finished second in the voting and Toronto Blue Jays right-hander Alek Manoah (16-7, 2.24 ERA) finished third; both were named on all 30 ballots..
Verlander is the 11th pitcher to win three or more Cy Young Awards – also earning the honors in 2011 and 2019. Roger Clemens won a record seven Cy Youngs.
This one will definitely feel different than the two he won as a Detroit Tiger.
Verlander had pitched just six innings since 2019 but dominated his opponents over 175 innings in 2022. He produced a 1.75 ERA, the lowest by an AL pitcher in a full season since Hall of Famer Pedro Martinez in 2000.
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The future Hall of Famer and nine-time All-Star also led the AL in wins (18), WHIP (0.83), opponent batting average (.186) and hits per nine innings (5.97). In 12 starts following a Houston loss, he went 9-0 with a 1.11 ERA.
Verlander’s 220 adjusted ERA and 0.829 WHIP also ranked best in the majors.
It all couldn’t have gone much better in Verlander’s first season after Tommy John surgery wiped out all of 2021, capping a transformative decade-plus since he won his first Cy Young in 2011.
Come 2017, he accepted an 11th-hour trade from Detroit to Houston, won the World Series that season, captured another Cy Young in 2019 and became a father after his wife, model Kate Upton, gave birth to daughter Genevieve, now 3.
“It shows I am at a different point in my life,” Verlander said Wednesday night. “I will always remember this Cy Young looking back at the growth of me as a father, as a person, as well as all the rehab and that I was so committed that it was going to go well and I was going to come back and be me
“To have that actually happen – positive affirmations only take you so far. I don’t think I’ll be able to look at this award without recalling all of that.”
While postseason performances don’t affect regular-season voting, Verlander earned his first career World Series win in Game 5 against the Philadelphia Phillies en route to his second championship.
Verlander, who just completed his 17th season, has said he would like to pitch until he’s 45 and possibly add a few more awards to his trophy case. He’s currently a free agent for the second straight offseason after declining his $25 million player option.
With Houston owner Jim Crane firing general manager James Click shortly after the season, negotiations to return to Houston will directly involve the owner. Verlander said Crane texted him and said he “wants to be involved going forward,” but with virtually every other big-market club expected to get in on the bidding, there are few guarantees Verlander will be back.
“I don’t know what the future holds,” says Verlander, who turns 40 in February. “I don’t want to sit here and say I won’t be back. I’m not going to sit here and pretend to know. The market will dictate itself. Jim understands that.
“There’s a lot of people interested in my services, including the Astros, and we’ll see what happens.”
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Astros’ Justin Verlander unanimously wins his third AL Cy Young Award