Verlander a unanimous Cy Young winner: 'Elite company for an elite pitcher'

As free agent hurler Justin Verlander prepares to consider contract offers from a multitude of teams looking to strengthen their pitching staffs, he has been awarded his third overall American League (AL) Cy Young. 

The accolade comes more than a week after Verlander’s previous team, the Houston Astros, won their second World Series championship in about half a decade. 

According to the Astros’ Twitter account, the 39-year-old righty unanimously won the award.

The just-concluded 2022 campaign was Verlander’s first on the mound since injuries and subsequent medical procedures sidelined him for two years. 

He inked a one-year deal with the Astros in late 2021 and went on to compile an 18-4 record and a 1.75 earned run average (ERA), occupying the top spot in several statistical categories in his comeback season, Houston Daily reported last month. 

The most recent Fall Classic saw Verlander record his first-ever win in Major League Baseball’s (MLB) best-of-seven championship round.

An Associated Press (AP) article that was ran by Houston CBS affiliate KHOU reported that Verlander easily beat the Chicago White Sox’s Dylan Cease, the Toronto Blue Jays’ Alek Manoah and even Astros teammate Framber Valdez. 

By winning his latest Cy Young, Verlander joins a very exclusive fraternity of pitchers with three or more of the award, per MLB. 

“Elite company for an elite pitcher … A living legend,” the league said in a tweet.

ESPN reported that Verlander and his National League (NL) Cy Young winning counterpart, Sandy Alcantara of the Miami Marlins, have made it the second time the accolade was attained by unanimous vote from members of the Baseball Writers' Association of America. 

It remains to be seen whether Verlander continues to spend his career's twilight years in Houston or rides off into the sunset elsewhere.