San Francisco Giants Superstar Looks Like Cy Young Self This Spring

This new San Francisco Giants pitcher appears to have regained his old form during spring training this month.

Feb 13, 2025; Scottsdale, AZ, USA; San Francisco Giants pitcher Justin Verlander (35) watches players work out in the bullpen during spring training camp. | Rick Scuteri-Imagn Images

With spring training coming to a close for the San Francisco Giants, one of their free agent signings has been impressive so far. 

It wasn’t a wild winter for the Giants this offseason. After the campaign was completed, San Francisco made it pretty clear that they wanted to begin to reduce payroll and get this team back on track. 

For the last three seasons, the Giants have finished under .500, and money wasn’t spent all that well by the previous front office. 

Now, president of baseball operations Buster Posey has been tasked with trying to clean things up. While it certainly won’t be an overnight fix, reducing payroll, creating a culture, and building up the farm system is a good place to start. 

This winter, one of the most significant signings for San Francisco was to bring in veteran right-hander and future Hall of Famer Justin Verlander. 

Since the Giants lost Blake Snell rather quickly this winter to the Los Angeles Dodgers, there was a need to replace that production in the rotation. 

Even though Verlander was far from a perfect target to do so, he did offer some upside. There have been a lot of questions about what type of pitcher he will be at 42 years old, but the results in spring training so far have been impressive. 

With the start of the regular season right around the corner, the future Hall of Famer recently just put together a great start against the Chicago White Sox, as reported by USA Today's Bob Nightengale.

Justin Verlander gets a loud ovation and tips his cap after striking out Luis Robert Jr. on a 96.5-mph fastball on his 78th pitch of the game. He gave up 3 hits and struck out 6 in five shutout innings vs. the White Sox, looking like the Verlander of old.

— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) March 17, 2025

Prior to the start against the White Sox, the right-hander had allowed three runs in 11 innings of work so far this spring. 

This type of production at his age has been very impressive this spring and Posey is looking smart to taking a chance on him. 

In 2024, it looked like Verlander’s career was coming to an end. He had battled with a neck injury for most of the campaign, and had an ERA over 5.00 when he was on the mound. 

It was hard to predict whether he would be able to bounce back in 2025, but the early results appear like he still has something left in the tank. 

If the Giants are going to get something close to the Verlander of old, this rotation is going to be just fine. 

While spring training stats should be taken with a grain of salt because of competition and sample size, the future Hall of Famer is passing the eye test for San Francisco. 

As he chases down 300 wins in his career, Verlander might end up being a great signing by the Giants.