Justin Verlander doesn’t seem ready to hang up his baseball glove and cleats anytime soon.
The 42-year-old told the San Francisco Standard that he has a desire to pitch next season.
While Verlander has had a successful career, which includes a World Series title with the Astros in 2017 and 2022, he has struggled this season.
“I mean, I’d like to,” Verlander told the outlet. “At this point in my career, if something goes really wrong, I’m not going to rehab a surgery or anything. I always understand that it could be it, but I think physically, I’ve shown some good health this season. As I’ve been on the mound, things have started to get better and better. To me, that’s a good sign with all the work I put in after my nerve injury last year, which notoriously takes a long time. The ball’s rolling in the right direction, and I would like to continue pitching. You never know. It’s a fickle game too, but I think the stuff is still there.”
Verlander has dealt with some injury issues over the years, so it makes sense that he would add some health-related caveats to his comments about wanting to play next season, and it isn’t necessarily shocking that he wants to compete in 2026 given previous comments about wanting to pitch into his mid-40s.
Verlander has a 4.53 ERA and a 1-9 record this season and didn’t record his first win until his 17th start of the year for a Giants team going nowhere at 59-59.
He did record his 3,500th career strikeout on Sunday and inched closer to moving ninth all-time on the strikeout list.
Verlander recorded the record at home during the Giants’ 8-0 loss to the Nationals.
“I was happy to get there, happy to have a moment with the fans,” he told reporters. “Cool milestone. I really appreciate what it’s taken to get there.”
