Justin Verlander Isn’t Ready to Hang It Up Yet. Here’s What He Said About Pitching Again

Justin Verlander sat down with MLB Network before the All-Star Game and didn’t sugarcoat what’s going on. The veteran Tigers pitcher, who was selected as a legends pick for the game, is currently hurt and won’t throw a single pitch in the exhibition. But he made one thing clear: he’s not done for the season.

“I certainly hope to pitch again this year,” Verlander said.

That’s the headline for Tigers fans who want to see the future Hall of Famer on the mound one more time before he walks away. Verlander announced earlier this year that he’ll retire after the season, and the All-Star nod felt like a kind of farewell tour moment. But for Verlander, the farewell isn’t quite here yet.

He’s been dealing with yet another injury — something that’s become a recurring theme. And he was brutally honest about why this feels like the end of the road.

“It’s just become pretty obvious to me in dealing with this injury, it’s like plugging holes in a leaky boat,” Verlander said. “Something new keeps popping up. The game has changed so much, too. I’m sitting here watching it, really the things that are left for me to accomplish would be 300 wins, would be a dream. 4,000 strikeouts… I would need, like, two and a half healthy seasons of good pitching to do that.”

He didn’t stop there. Verlander pointed out that starting pitchers don’t get used the way they used to. He’s not naive about that. He knows that even if his body held up, the modern game wouldn’t let him rack up innings the old way. So the math just doesn’t work for chasing 300 wins or 4,000 strikeouts.

Right now he sits at 266 wins and 3,554 strikeouts. Respectable totals that most pitchers would kill for, but still short of the benchmarks that separate the all-time greats from the Hall of Fame locks. It stings a little, but Verlander seems at peace with it.

What matters now is whether he can actually get back on the mound. He’s not promising anything, but he’s not ruling it out either. And if he has his way, he’ll take the ball again at some point in 2026 before officially calling it a career.