Houston Astros ace Justin Verlander is not going to win a second career American League MVP Award, as Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge essentially has that wrapped up — Judge is priced at -650 to win at Caesars Sportsbook. Verlander isn't even a betting option on that prop, but he's the -170 favorite to win a third career Cy Young Award and is having as good of a season as he did in 2011 when won both awards while with Detroit. The 39-year-old is on the mound Wednesday vs. Tex as and Houston is a massive favorite.
If Verlander wants to pitch next season for the Astros, that's now locked in should he choose. Coming off Tommy John surgery that caused Verlander to miss all of 2021, he has passed the 130-inning mark last week against Cleveland, triggering his $25 million player option for 2023. Verlander may forego that option as he's in position to handily surpass a $25 million average annual value as a free agent.
“I wasn't pitching to get to 130 innings,” Verlander said after reaching the threshold. “When we were doing the contract, [Astros owner] Jim [Crane] told me they wanted 130 innings for my player option. I was asking for a straight player option and they said they'd like 130 innings, and that was that. I thought that was a very fair number the way I like to pitch.”
Verlander leads the majors with 15 wins and a 1.73 ERA, is second with a 0.85 WHP and fourth with a .188 opponents' battin g average through 20 starts. In his 2011 historic season, he had a 2.15 ERA, 0.87 WHIP and .188 opponents' batting average through 20 starts and would finish 24-5 with a 2.40 ERA, 0.92 WHIP and .192 opponents' batting average.