Justin Verlander reintroduced to Detroit Tigers by Scott Harris
President of baseball operations Scott Harris reintroduced right-hander Justin Verlander to the Detroit Tigers on Feb. 12, 2026, in Lakeland, Florida.
LAKELAND, FL – Justin Verlander is about to turn 43 years old.
He needs 34 wins to become the 25th pitcher in MLB history to accomplish 300 wins – and possibly the last pitcher in the modern era with a chance to reach that milestone. He also wants to pitch through his age-45 season, giving him three years to secure 34 wins.
The clock is ticking.
“Since I was 22 years old, I’ve been saying I wanted to pitch until I was 45,” Verlander said. “It seemed possible. That was a pretty naive thing to say back then, looking back and seeing what I’ve gone through and how hard it is to get here, but that stubborn mentality is what helps you achieve that goal.”
If Verlander gets there, at least some of those 34 wins will be with his original team: the Detroit Tigers. He signed a one-year, $13 million contract with the Tigers on Tuesday, Feb. 10, marking a full-circle reunion after spending the past eight-plus years elsewhere.
He previously pitched for the Tigers from 2005-17.
“Obviously, 300 wins is something I would love to accomplish,” Verlander said.
In Detroit, Verlander racked up 183 of his 266 wins. He also secured 73 wins with the Houston Astros, six wins with the New York Mets and four wins with the San Francisco Giants.
In 2025, Verlander was 4-11 in 29 starts for the Giants – a setback in his pursuit of the milestone.
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For 29 starts, he would’ve expected between 10-15 wins.
“Last year made it difficult, only getting four,” said Verlander, who had a career-high 24 wins in 34 starts for the Tigers in 2011. “I know it’s not going to be simple, but even going into last year, it was one of those things that it’s a year-by-year thing at this point.”
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Verlander needs at least 34 wins after turning 43 years old on Friday.
The 34-wins-after-age-43 task isn’t impossible; it has been accomplished by four pitchers in MLB history: right-hander Phil Niekro with 78 wins from 1982-87, left-hander Jamie Moyer with 64 wins from 2006-12, right-hander Jack Quinn with 61 wins from 1927-33 and right-hander Nolan Ryan with 35 wins from 1990-93.
Verlander has been compared to Ryan throughout his career as a power pitcher with durability. The next way to compare them could be as members of the 300-win club.
But Verlander is taking a season-by-season approach to the remainder of his Hall of Fame-caliber career – hence the one-year contract with the Tigers. If he stays healthy in 2026, then he will pitch again in 2027.
And if he’s healthy in 2027? Then he will do it again in 2028.
“I’ll go out, do everything I can to pitch successfully, give us a chance to win, hopefully log a lot of innings, take the ball 30-plus times, let the chips fall where they may,” Verlander said. “If that ends up happening, and I feel like I’m able to do it again, rinse and repeat.”
Nearly 43, the benchmark Verlander set for himself at age 22 hasn’t moved – and the finish line is closer than ever. There’s only one thing that might stop him from his goals.
It’s health.
“If something catastrophic were to happen, I’m not going to go back through a big surgery and rehab things,” Verlander said.
Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him @EvanPetzold.
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