SF Giants have a no-brainer decision on Justin Verlander this offseason

The SF Giants are going to have some questions about their starting rotation this offseason. One will be about Justin Verlander who Buster Posey says the team will have interest in retaining. With how he has looked lately, they absolutely should bring him back.

I wrote last week that Verlander could have his signature SF Giants' moment if he could lead the team to victory over the Dodgers and outduel their ace Yoshinobu Yamamoto.

SF Giants should absolutely bring back Justin Verlander

Verlander, the 42-year-old starting pitcher and future Hall-of-Famer, did just that. He tossed seven innings of one-run ball, lowering his season ERA under 4 for the first time since April 4th, and led the Giants to a 5-1 victory.

Then yesterday, with the Giants in dire need of a victory against the Arizona Diamondbacks to stay alive in the NL Wild Card hunt, Verlander delivered again. He tossed seven scoreless innings, leading the Giants to another 5-1 victory. It was his third game this season going seven or more innings.

The Giants probably will miss out on the playoffs in 2025. Barring another miracle hot streak, the team appears to be treading water at this point. Don't blame Verlander, though. Even though he has had some bumps in the road this season, he's delivered down the stretch for San Francisco.

In his last 11 starts, since July 23rd, Verlander has been nothing short of elite. He has a 2.17 ERA and 2.96 FIP. He's recorded 60 strikeouts over 62.1 innings. He's allowed only three home runs.

The Giants are 5-6 in those 11 games. Overall this season, the team is 9-18 when Verlander's been on the mound.

It's hardly fair to look at the team's record, however. The team has averaged 3.93 runs when Verlander starts, but it's even worse than that. Take away two outliers, a 14-5 win on May 6th and a 13-2 win on August 31st, and the team is averaging just 3.16 runs-per-game when he starts.

In fact, there was a 13-game stretch between May 12th and August 16th, in which the Giants scored just 27 runs for Verlander. That's about 2.1 runs per game. Verlander was not great during that stretch, with a 4.06 ERA, but it's hard to say he deserved to have a 1-7 record, considering his lack of run support. Most pitchers with an ERA around four win half their starts. Verlander won just a single one of those 13 games, and the team was 2-11 overall in those 13 starts.

All this is to say, Verlander has not been the problem for the Giants in 2025. Despite his age and a slow start to the season, he stabilized and has actually been the Giants' best pitcher since the All-Star break.

The Giants need to re-sign Verlander for 2026. Yes, he'll be 43. Yes, he's not the pitcher he once was. But he's proven he can still dominate at the highest level, and he's doing it when it matters most. He has also said he wants to pitch again in 2026. As the rest of the team largely struggles with two weeks left in the season, Verlander is giving it his all, doing everything it takes to get the Giants back to the playoffs.

On a similar deal to the one he signed last offseason, it would make a lot of sense to bring Verlander back as the team's third or fourth starter, behind Logan Webb and Robbie Ray. The Giants should not be swayed by his poor win-loss record; Verlander still has good baseball left in him.

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