For SF Giants’ Justin Verlander, passion to pitch still burns bright

There is little that Justin Verlander hasn’t accomplished on the diamond. His resumé, one that will land him in the Hall of Fame, features an MVP, two championships and three Cy Youngs, among other accolades. He’ll officially enter his 20th major-league season on Opening Day, a testament to a longevity that few players can boast.

He doesn’t know when he will retire. Veterans have told Verlander, who will be 42 in February, that he will know when he knows. As he enters his first year in San Francisco, he knows that time is not now, and that pitching until he turns 45 remains a goal.

“I think you can tell that the passion is still there,” said Verlander, who joins the Giants on a one-year, $15 million deal. “The fire is still burning.”

“You don’t get to the level of greatness that he’s accomplished in his career without having the utmost fortitude and desire to be the best,” said president of baseball operations Buster Posey. “When I think about pitchers of this generation, to me, Justin’s at the top.”

Verlander, currently unsure what number he’ll wear next season, has been a model of consistency for nearly two decades, but he enters his first season in San Francisco having freshly endured the worst season of his career. Due in large part to neck and shoulder injuries, Verlander turned in a 5.48 ERA over 90 1/3 innings, far below his standard of excellence.

As bad as last season went, Verlander said he learned from the experience and feels he has addressed those physical issues.

In response to his shoulder injury, Verlander altered his offseason throwing program. Instead of resting for several weeks, Verlander continued throwing once the season ended and estimates he is currently throwing around 92 mph. He described the shoulder issues last year as his own fault, but currently feels “miles ahead of where I was last year.”

“I’ve always been somebody who sets down the ball and don’t pick it up again for a few months,” Verlander said. “I’ve always been lucky that I just pick it up and start throwing. Well, at 41, that caught up with me. So, that was an adjustment I’ve made.”

Along with the shoulder, Verlander shared he was unaware that his neck had been an underlying issue for years until an unspecified “event” finally occurred in 2024. Verlander compared the neck ailment to when he underwent core muscle surgery in ’14, which forced him to learn how to take care of his body.

“You never want an event to occur, but sometimes you need that to happen to point you in the right direction,” Verlander said. “I really believe that’s what occurred. It notified me that there was a problem there, and as I’ve been addressing that, I’ve noticed a lot of other significant beneficial changes in my body that have led to better mechanics.”

With better health and better mechanics, Verlander and the Giants are hoping for better results. And as Verlander approaches his 20th major-league season, he wants to prove he can still pitch at a high level.

“I don’t think I can defeat Father Time; no one can,” Verlander said. “But I think the groundwork that I’ve put in and the work ethic that I’ve had since I’ve been in this game has afforded me, hopefully, on the backend, some extra time.”

Given his clout, Verlander’s impact stands to extend beyond his statistical value.

The right-hander joins a rotation featuring a plethora of young arms such as Kyle Harrison (23), Hayden Birdsong (23), Landen Roupp (26) and Jordan Hicks (28), all of whom could benefit from Verlander’s tutelage. Verlander drew upon his own experiences, recalling when he was a 23-year-old rookie sharing a rotation with 41-year-old Kenny Rogers.

“I didn’t really think that I would pick up much from him, but when I look back at it, I think you just kind of pick up stuff from being around guys that have learned to be in the game that long — whether he was taking an approach to be a mentor or not,” Verlander said of Rogers.

Verlander described his younger self as being a “horse with blinders on” who tried to do what was necessary in order to be successful. As he’s aged and become a father, Verlander believes he’s taken those blinders off and been more willing to help his teammates.

For all the talk of mentorship, Posey didn’t want anyone to forget that Verlander is here to help anchor the rotation, too.

“I’ve even seen in the media so far all the value add that he’s going to bring with the younger arms. That’s most definitely true. We believe that. But first and foremost, we all see this guy pitching at the top of the rotation and being very, very good,” Posey said.

The Giants will need Verlander to pitch well if they are to have any chance of competing in the NL West, especially given that Roki Sasaki will not be signing in San Francisco. Verlander’s unwavering passion for the game remains clearly evident. The coming season will tell whether he can parlay that fire into another productive season — and continue his march towards 300 career wins.

“Buster had texted me after everything went down and said, ‘Wouldn’t it be something if you won 300 games in a San Francisco uniform,'” Verlander said. “And God, wouldn’t that be something?”