MLB Twitter on Justin Verlander's Cy Young award: "Hall of Fame will be waiting for him", "It was a formality at this point"

Future Hall of Famer Justin Verlander was named the 2022 American League Cy Young Award winner. It is the third time he's won the award, having captured it back in 2011 with the Detroit Tigers and in 2018 with the Houston Astros.

What makes this one extra special, however, is the hurdles he had to overcome en route. Verlander had Tommy John surgery and missed the entire 2021 season. At the ripe age of 39, no one expected him to pitch one of the most prolific seasons of his career in 2022.

Justin Verlander led all MLB pitchers in ERA with 1.75 and WHIP with 0.83 and also led the American League in wins with 18. This made him the unanimous choice for MVP as all the first-place votes headed his way.

Miami Marlins ace Sandy Alcantara was unanimously voted for the NL Cy Young, marking the first time that both Cy Young Awardees were voted unanimously.

Beloved by fans across the league, Verlander received congratulatory messages for his impressive accomplishments.

It is yet to be seen if he will don the Houston Astros jersey in the future. However, if he decides to wrap it up with the men from Space City, Verlander won't have any regrets as he has done everything in his power to propel the team to two World Series titles.

Justin Verlander's contract situation

Justin Verlander is currently a free agent and has declined a $25 million extension to remain with the Astros.

It is reported that the veteran is looking for a contract that is similar to Max Scherzer's three-year, $130 million deal with the New York Mets. For that to be possible, a team should be willing to pay the 39-year-old close to $43 million a year.

From Verlander's perspective, however, it is a totally justifiable demand as he just claimed another Cy Young award on the back of a stellar 2022 campaign. Testing the waters of free agency will certainly be beneficial for him given his current age and what's left in his tank.

About the author

Daniel Santiago is a journalist who has been reporting on baseball at Sportskeeda since 2022. He was drawn towards the sport after the underlying statistics and the analysis surrounding it grabbed his attention.

Daniel particularly enjoys furnishing reports about historic events in baseball and analyzing the game through a statistic-based outlook, based on Fangraphs and Baseball-Reference. This is in line with how he enjoyed watching baseball as a pastime. As a writer, he is very particular about cross-checking from reputable sources and doing his due diligence.

He became a lifelong Hideki Matsui fan after his exploits in the 2009 World Series for the New York Yankees. Among the current generation, Daniel's favorites include Shohei Ohtani and Jung Hoo Lee. Daniel is a huge follower of Asian baseball and both Ohtani and Lee have been in the top echelon of their respective leagues during their time with the NPB and KBO.

His favorite moment as a baseball fan was the final at-bat of the 2023 World Baseball Classic between Shohei Ohtani and Mike Trout. He believes there aren't many words to fittingly describe the intensity of the moment.

As an avid sports fan, Daniel watches other sports and Esports when not writing about baseball.

Know More