Houston Astros: Three reasons why Justin Verlander should win the Cy-Young
By T.A. Mock
The best strikeout year of his career
Justin Verlander has been a bonafide ace in this league longer than any other active pitcher. He’s been constantly receiving Cy Young votes for over a decade, with a few subpar blips along the way. Throughout that time he’s been a flamethrower that has had no problem punching guys out.
For his career, he’s struck out 2,706 batters over his 14 year career. That’s an average of 220 strikeouts per 162 games. Which means he’ll likely become the 17th or 18th player, depending on CC Sabathia who is closer, to strikeout over 3,000 batters in their career. If he keeps up his current pace, he’ll get there about halfway through his 16th season.
However, this year he greatly increased that average by setting a new career high in strikeouts. He struck out 290 batters this season which only trailed Max Scherzer and his 300 strikeouts. This blew his previous high of 269 set back in 2009, out of the water.
Must Read. The unique weapon the team has to compete with the Indians. light
On top of that incredible number, Verlander has also set a career high in strikeouts per nine innings with 12.2. That number is good for third in the league, behind Cole and Scherzer, respectively. That’s higher than the historic pace he was at during the last month of the last season, his first with the Astros.
Verlander blew the rest of the AL Cy Young contenders out of the water in this category. The closest anyone else is of the five best in the AL is Cole at 276. Everyone else is far away from Verlander. Blake Snell is at 221, Corey Kluber is at 222, and Trevor Bauer is at 219.