Houston Astros ace Justin Verlander has missed almost two full seasons due to elbow troubles that resulted in him needing Tommy John surgery.

Verlander has not pitched a full season since going 21-6 with a 2.58 ERA in 2019, when he won the AL Cy Young award.

He was injured one start into the 2020 season and hasn’t pitched since.

But he appears to be regaining his confidence and returning to his old form.

He’s looked pretty good so far this spring too.

Through three spring training starts, the former Cy Young and MVP has thrown 8 2/3 innings of shutout baseball while striking out 10, giving up just five hits, and walking only three batters.

Justin Verlander through three spring starts:

8.2 IP, 5 H 0 ER, 3 BB, 10 K

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He got up to 62 pitches today against the Nats.

— Frank Stampfl (@Roto_Frank) March 29, 2022

Verlander Returns To Form

This is a great sign for the Astros.

Their rotation had taken somewhat of a hit with the departure of Zack Greinke, who left to return to the Kansas City Royals.

And there obviously is a lot riding on Verlander at the moment.

But he appears to be healthy again and back to being the Verlander we all know and love, a guy who can dominate and someone who is capable of winning a Cy Young and is able to come through in big games.

And Houston will need Verlander to be just that if they want to go back to the World Series for the fourth time in the last six years.

His spring training stats thus far are promising.

He even got up to 62 pitches in his start against the Washington Nationals yesterday.

It seems that Verlander is back and looking like his old self again, which is good to see.

Verlander is a competitor and wants to win, and he has an opportunity to do just that.

The post Justin Verlander Has Been Lights Out So Far This Spring appeared first on The Cold Wire.

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