6 years agoPrior to the 2017 trade that sent Justin Verlander to the Houston Astros, you had to wonder, how much did Verlander have left? The once dominant MVP and Cy Young winner hadn’t been an All-Star since 2013 but the Astros knew what Verlander could bring to a team trying to win its first World Series in franchise history. Since that trade, Verlander is back to being a staff ace and fantasy ace. Since joining the Astros, Verlander has thrown 278 innings and during that time frame, he has allowed 173 hits and 64 earned runs to go along with 333 strikeouts. His 290 strikeouts during the 2018 season, in which Verlander was 35 years old, was a new career high. Even though Verlander was prone to giving up a few more home runs last season, his 6.6 hits per nine innings was the lowest since 2011 and this was only the third time in Verlander’s career that he struck out more than nine hitters per nine innings. So, the only question is whether we trust a 36-year-old coming off a career year to be the ace of your fantasy baseball team. Verlander’s ADP last season was 34.2 but he finished the season as the fourth overall player in fantasy. Verlander likely won’t repeat this performance again, but if you are an owner that likes to load up on hitting early, Verlander will be a reliable ace you can nab around pick 35, where he will likely fall again heading into 2019.--Kyle Richardson