Houston Astros: Three reasons why Justin Verlander should win the Cy-Young

 The rare feat of endurance and longevity

Before I get too much further into explaining this one, let’s hear what Justin Verlander has to say about this part himself…

Just as Verlander said, it used to be the norm to have pitchers throw 240-250 in a season across the league. Now, it’s extremely rare to have pitchers who eclipse the 200 inning mark. Only 13 pitchers eclipsed the mark this year while just a mere decade ago 35 pitchers got to that milestone. The further back you look, the more that number grows.

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Of the pitchers that are Verlander’s biggest competition for the Cy Young award, Cole and Kluber are close to Verlander, with Kluber actually surpassing him by one inning. However, Verlander’s other stats are significantly more impressive than those two.

Verlander’s biggest competition though may be Snell from Tampa Bay. Snell’s ERA is extremely impressive and his ERA was second best in the league. However, he only tossed 180 innings pitched and started fewer games than Verlander’s 34.

So, in a baseball world where this feat has become

increasingly rare, the fact that Verlander accomplished this and is amongst the league leaders in other more advanced stats is phenomenal. Verlander is far and away the best player to win the Cy Young this year. Snell will, without a doubt, have his time but 2018 is not that time.

Verlander has finished as the runner-up three times for the Cy Young award three times. He won the award once, back in 2011 when he also won the MVP award. He should finally get his second Cy Young and cement his Hall of Fame status.