If you bet horses, you know that there is usually one or two thoroughbreds who don’t get the respect it deserves, and if you follow baseball, Detroit’s Justin Verlander would be right up there. However, he’s garnering more acclaim as one of the best pitchers in baseball, and at 28 years old, he could be just getting started. Even though he has averaged almost 17 wins per year for the last five seasons, Verlander isn’t usually mentioned along with Philadelphia’s Roy Halladay and Cliff Lee, San Francisco’s Tim Lincecum, and New York’s C.C. Sabathia (St. Louis’ injured ace, Adam Wainwright, should be in this category as well), but he has to be considered this year. Verlander is off to a 9-3 start, posting a 2.54 ERA through his first 16 starts, but he’s been utterly dominant at times. MLB betting players will remember his no-hitter in Toronto, the second of his career, and in his next start, he took a no-hit bid into the sixth inning against Kansas City. Verlander is taking his game to the next level over the last two months after a 2-3 start, going 7-0 in his last nine outings, and he has tossed two complete games in a row. It’s even more impressive when you consider that Verlander ranks in the bottom half of the major leagues in terms of run support, and especially when you consider that he is the only the Detroit starter with a ERA lower than 3.95. That puts tremendous pressure on Verlander to perform, but he seems to relish the pressure of being a top-notch ace in the American League, and he has sparked a Detroit surge to close Cleveland’s lead atop the Central. MLB betting players should consider Verlander as one of the top favorites for the Cy Young award in the American League, along with Los Angeles’ Jered Weaver, Tampa Bay’s James Shields, and Boston’s Josh Beckett, but Verlander has the stuff to keep his run going throughout the season. He may have the best fastball in the game, consistently reaching the high-90s, and he has wonderful command over it, which sets up his changeup and curveball. If you have a guy that is throwing you a 97-mph fastball, and then he brings an 82-mph breaking ball, as a hitter you’re not going to know what to expect, and that is what Verlander can bring to the table. Then you look at guys like Halladay (34 years old), Lee (32), and even Atlanta’s Tim Hudson (36 on July 14th), who are still performing at a high level and you wonder, how long can Verlander continue to pitch like this? If he takes care of himself, Verlander has at least 7-8 years left in his arm, and he should be a Cy Young online sports betting favorite for years to come.
