San Francisco Giants Veteran Returns to Form with Latest Quality Start

After a rough start to the year, the San Francisco Giants veteran starter looks to be back to form with his third-straight quality start.

May 1, 2025; San Francisco, California, USA; San Francisco Giants starting pitcher Justin Verlander (35) throws against the Colorado Rockies in the first inning at Oracle Park. | Eakin Howard-Imagn Images

At the end of the 2024 campaign, it was evident that the San Francisco Giants needed reinforcements for their starting rotation. Not many believed those reinforcements would come in the form of a 42-year-old veteran.

Last year was the third in a string of rough years for the Giants. After winning 107 games in 2021, they had once again failed to finish above .500 for the third time in as many seasons.

The pitching staff was a big part of their struggles, with the rotation posting a 4.22 ERA in 2024, ranking 18th in MLB.

President of baseball operations Buster Posey is not one to sit around on his hands and wait for reinforcements, but instead chooses to go out and get the reinforcements himself. Over the offseason, he turned to a former colleague of his and signed future Hall of Famer Justin Verlander to a one-year, $15 million deal.

Not many knew what to think of the pact. Verlander, 42, was coming off one of the worst years of his career, a campaign that saw him post a 5.48 ERA across only 90 1/3 innings in 17 starts. He had not struck out more batters than he had innings pitched since 2022, and the decline from age was finally starting to take its toll.

Across his first four starts in 2025, the signing looked abysmal. Verlander carried a 6.75 ERA across only 18 2/3 innings with 17 strikeouts. Clearly, the signing was for naught, and the rest of the year would just see Verlander making starts to improve ticket sales.

Well, that's where things turned around. The veteran has made three starts since those first four outings, and all three of them have been quality starts. The 42-year-old has pitched to a 1.96 ERA in that time across 18 1/3 innings with 15 strikeouts.

Now, you can certainly point at two of the teams he has faced in those starts and remember just how bad they are (the Los Angeles Angels and Colorado Rockies), but the other team Verlander faced in that stretch is a legitimate World Series contender with a potent lineup in the Texas Rangers.

The days of Verlander competing for a Cy Young may be long gone. But if the old man can continue to put up quality starts the rest of the way, he will have San Francisco well positioned to win games and finish a year over .500 for the first time since 2021.