Justin Verlander Looks to Stay Ahead of Former Teammate in MLB History
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Justin Verlander's final start of his historic MLB career is one day away, as the Detroit Tigers will take on the Pittsburgh Pirates from Friday, Sept. 25, to Sunday, Sept. 27, to conclude the 2026 regular season.
While Verlander's return to the organization that gave him his start wasn't executed as expected, given that the future Hall of Famer has been on the injured list for the entire season except for one start, it's still special to see him take the mound at Comerica Park one last time before he hangs the cleats up.
His last bullpen session went well, tickets to Saturday's game are sold out, and now the Tigers fans want to see Verlander turn back the clock, even if it's for a few innings. In those potential few innings, however, Verlander may need to create some distance in the all-time MLB strikeout leaderboard.
Can JV Stay in Front of Former Teammate?
Heading into his final start of his career, Verlander sits at 3,554 career strikeouts, just four more than former Tigers/New York Mets teammate Max Scherzer of the Toronto Blue Jays. While Scherzer hasn't announced what his future holds, Verlander has one more chance to create some breathing room.
Scherzer is set to get the ball for the Blue Jays on Sunday in what could be his final career start as well. Verlander has always been a competitive guy, but a four-strikeout lead over Scherzer may not be enough to hold up his No. 8 ranking on the all-time strikeout leaderboard.
In the one start Verlander has made this season, he collected one strikeout against the Arizona Diamondbacks, while Scherzer has collected 61 strikeouts in 17 starts in 2026. The two have always been compared, but only one can sit in front of the other on the all-time leaderboard.
Verlander claims he'll pitch until his arm falls off, and for good measure, he won't be on an MLB mound as an active player ever again. However, at 43 years old, Verlander's tank is different than how it used to be. Luckily for him, the Pirates are one team that is prone to striking out, entering the series opener with 1,473 strikeouts this season.
Even if Scherzer passes Verlander, JV will still rank in the Top 10 all-time, but sitting in front of arguably the other great pitcher of his generation is massively important. It's a battle of whose arm will allow them to execute pitches better. Verlander might have an advantage, given that a majority of his games pitched have happened on Comerica Park's mound.
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Dominic Minchella is a 2024 Eastern Michigan University graduate with a BA in Communications, Media, and Theatre Arts and a Journalism minor. He covers Major League Baseball for On SI and spends his free time watching games and sharing his insights.