Justin Verlander didn’t hesitate when asked to name the most talented team he’s ever played on.
Appearing on “On Base with Mookie Betts,” sponsored by Bleacher Report, the future Hall of Famer pointed straight to the 2019 Houston Astros, a club that never won a championship but still left a lasting mark on him.
“The '19 Astros were probably the most talented team,” Verlander said. “(Jose) Altuve, Gerrit (Cole), Carlos (Correa) - jeez, man, that team, George (Springer).”
Verlander also singled out Yuli Gurriel after Betts mentioned him.
“Yuli (Gurriel) and Jose, you could make your pitch; it didn't matter. They're so handy; nowadays, the way to hit is very robotic, but some of the best hitters I've ever seen, like Jose, would go down and get a ball and flick it with his wrists. Yuli would do the same thing and turn it into something special, which makes it way harder to pitch to.”
That kind of praise stands out because Verlander has suited up for plenty of loaded teams over the years, including the 2006, 2012, and 2013 Detroit Tigers. Even so, he still chose the 2019 Astros over the two clubs that actually won World Series titles.
He was just as impressed by Houston’s pitching staff that season.
“We would just come into series' and we would just steamroll them. There was no breath of air for the other team.
You face me and then, okay, what do we have tomorrow? Oh, Gerrit Cole, how's he doing?
Uh, hasn't lost a game in four months and is striking out 350 people. All right.
Okay. We got through that.
What we got next? Uh, Charlie Morton.
Oh, okay. All right.”
Verlander spent 2017 through 2022 as a fixture in Houston’s rotation, helping the franchise win another World Series before signing with the New York Mets in the 2022 offseason. He also played a major role when the Astros won their first championship after arriving in a trade from the Detroit Tigers in 2017.
Now, as retirement gets closer, Verlander still hasn’t decided whether he’ll go into the Hall of Fame as a Tiger or an Astro. Both franchises, as he sees it, have a strong case.
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The game also underscored how thin the pitching staff was asked to become after Cristian Javier exited early with a groin strain. Houston turned to several rookie arms to get through the rest of the night, a reminder of how much has to go right from here for the club to make up ground. With so little margin left, every slip now carries even more weight. [Read more 🡒]