Justin Verlander after TJS
Justin Verlander is one of the best pitchers in baseball. In the post-steroids era, though, it would be expected if he stopped pitching well or even pitching at all once he reached his late 30s. So when Justin had Tommy John surgery at the end of the 2020 season at the age of 37, most people did not expect much from him going forward.
While recovering from surgery, he missed the whole 2021 season. In 2022 however, he would make a fantastic comeback winning the World Series and the AL Comeback Player award, pitching to an 18-4 record with a 1.75 ERA in 175 innings. No other pitcher in history had a lower ERA when over 39 years old. In addition, no other starter at the age of 34 or older ever had the surgery and came back to throw more than 160.2 innings.
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Justin Verlander’s Incredible Post-Tommy John Surgery Season Continues
Only one pitcher who underwent Tommy John surgery is in the Hall of Fame, namely John Smoltz, who underwent the procedure in March 2000 and upon returning in mid-’01 spent three-plus seasons as a closer before moving back into the rotation for his final five seasons.
FanGraphs
