Maybe the Yu Darvish experience there was enough to leave a lasting impression? I guess he would have been a kid possibly watching Yu pitch those games. EDIT: n/m, just saw J.R.'s post. Dodgers it likely is...
Wouldn't count out the Padres. Good friends with Darvish and is Nomo part of the organization? With Padres, in a year or so, he could be the main player on the team but with Dodgers, he wouldn't be the main guy. Then again, maybe he doesn't want the spotlight and us fine with Dodgers lol
https://www.houstonchronicle.com/sp...r-final-houston-season-bad-taste-20032025.php … “I’ve had a phenomenal ride with Houston,” Verlander said Monday. “It’s been a hell of a chapter in my career. The second chapter coming back from New York wasn’t what I would have hoped. When I got traded back, I felt like I pitched pretty well to help them get to the playoffs (in 2023). But really last year left a sour taste in my mouth — not with the organization, just with myself. I hold myself to a high standard that I want to pitch to. … “I wish I had pitched better last year. I wish the injuries hadn’t happened. But look, man, I’m not somebody that lives in the past. I’ve had just, like I said, a phenomenal run in Houston. And if that’s done, it’s done. Never know what’s going to happen. Obviously, I never would have forecasted going back as quickly as I did. So you never want to close a chapter on anything in this game. But this new chapter I couldn’t be more excited about, man. “I can’t tell you how … exciting it is for me when you can tell the energy of not only the organization, but a lot of the players that reached out and how excited they are to have me here. Not that it wasn’t exciting to be in Houston, but I’ve been there for seven or eight years now, so everybody knows me, you kind of lose that a little bit. So just having the guys reach out and everybody I’ve spoken to, especially once the deal was done, telling me how excited they are, means a lot.” In light of his injuries last year, Verlander said he changed his offseason program and is “feeling great” at this point. Verlander began last season on the injured list with a shoulder injury that he termed a “capsule issue” Monday. In a career first, he said, he never stopped throwing this winter and is “miles ahead” of where he was this time last year. Verlander said he thinks the neck injury that cost him more than two months reflected an underlying issue and hopes it was a “blessing in disguise” that helped him address it. Verlander will begin next season 10th on the all-time strikeouts list and the active leader in wins with 262. He made a vague reference Monday to a remaining milestone “that is kind of a no-brainer that I would like to achieve” — surely 300 wins, a mark that would likely require him to pitch several more seasons. Asked his goal for the upcoming year, Verlander replied: “I think personally, proving that I still have it. “I wouldn’t be coming back and playing — I’ve accomplished enough in my career — I wouldn’t be back if I didn’t think I could be great,” Verlander said. “I really, truly believe that the experiences I had last year and leading into this year, I can be back to the pitcher I was not all that long ago when I won a Cy Young. “I still feel like I have something to give. And if I still feel like that, then I want to play, simple as that.”
This is the excuse of a person who knows they are taking advantage of a club by being paid an extra year past their retirement age.
He did with the CYA and help get this team another WS the year after… during what would normally be a TJ recovery year.
IMO, Verlander should be getting at least the Drexler treatment if not moreso. They don’t sniff 2017 without him (and his ALCS was the most dominant any Astros pitcher has ever been in a playoff game). They don’t sniff 2022 without him. He was a beast/CYA winner in 2019 (what should have been another title). These runs and special players don’t grow on trees.
The most important pitcher in Astros history. And the Astros have been blessed with amazing pitching through the years.
Knepper may be the most inconsistent starting pitcher in Astros history. 1981= 9-5 2.81 1982= 5-15 4.45 1983= 6-13 3.19 1984= 15-10 3.20 1985= 15-13 3.55 1986= 17-12 3.14 1987= 8-17 5.27 1988= 14-5 3.14 1989= 4-10 5.89 4 seasons of 14+ wins 4 seasons of 13+ losses 5 seasons of 3.20 or better ERA 3 seasons of 4.45 or worse ERA ( In the dome)
Knepper.was a lefty with a slow moving curve ball (or slider). Hitters would nail it but the Dome would take out the energy and Cedeno or Cruz would snag it on the warning track.
Verlander had nothing short of an amazing run with the Astros - He won two Cy Young Awards with the Astros and finished second another year. He was with the Astros for 7 seasons - but in those 7 seasons he missed two full seasons with injury, and in two other seasons was traded for at the deadline or missed have the season with injury. So essentially the 3 healthy seasons with the Astros, he was the best pitcher in the AL. He finished with a 2.70 era with the Astros, and in only 130 games managed a 73-28 record and a WHIP of under 1.00..... Really the only blemish was the injuries or he likely would have won another Cy Young or more. There is no WS without Verlander. In hindsight the Astros should have just signed him when he went to the Mets - but that is a small matter. So - to me his actual performance is beyond anything Drexler did and because of the WS, anything that Clemens did. An argument can be made that he was overall better than Ryan as well. If he had not gotten hurt, he likely goes into the HOF as an Astro, which is amazing because he was viewed as a washed up 35 year old at the time. Only similar situation I can think of was Randy Johnson in Arizona.
