January 8, 2020

Houston Astros pitcher Justin Verlander has been all across the spectrum of perception in his 14-year career, filled with highs, lows, and even lower lows; but inexplicably, he just finished one of the best years of his career at 36-years-old. Verlander took home the Cy Young by carving up baseball to the tune of a 2.58 ERA and 0.80 WHIP over 223 innings, collecting 21 wins and 300 strikeouts along the way. Don't be alarmed; reading that line again won't make it any less bonkers. The wins and the strikeouts are one thing, but those ratios over a league-leading 223 innings are absolutely insane. How crazy was his 0.80 WHIP? Second-place belonged to Gerrit Cole with a 0.89 WHIP and third-place was shared by Jacob deGrom and Jack Flaherty at a 0.97 WHIP. When there is that big of a gap between you and the MLB elite than you've done something special. Entering 2020 as a near-consensus top-15 pick, it's hard to find reasons for a big drop-off from Verlander, seeing that he essentially put up the same numbers in 2018, just not quite as spectacular. And not just the fantasy-relevant numbers but the advanced ones as well, with Verlander's 35.4% K-rate, .189 xBA, and .249 xwOBA all virtually identical to the numbers he put up in 2018. Like a warm, fuzzy blanket, when you draft Justin Verlander, you're wrapping yourself up in 200+ innings with around a 2.50 ERA, 0.90 WHIP, 290 K, and 20 wins; which is exactly what you want when taking a pitcher in the first round.--Nicklaus Gaut - RotoBaller