JV has won the Cy Young every time he has a 20-win season. He has never won it without reaching 20 wins (though he had some great seasons, like 2016 and 2018, where he was snubbed). Even if most fans (and the voters, now) don't care about wins, it still helps. If, say, there are two candidates with roughly identical ERA, WHIP, FIP, IP, and K numbers, but one finishes 21-5 and the other 14-9, you can almost be certain they'll give the first place votes to the better record.
I'm in town, taking my son to his first game at MMP tonight. We catch at least a couple Astros games per year in Arlington, but this is the first time I've been able to get him to Houston. And he gets to see Verlander pitch. Lucky kid!
I guess we're willing to try anything to get Gurriel going, and obviously the hitting coach can't help.