Is Justin Verlander the Best Pitcher in Baseball?

You make a stunning case, sir!

He's pretty good, yet overrated. Take him out of the AL Central where he does most of his damage and see what he does.

He's pretty good, yet overrated. Take him out of the AL Central where he does most of his damage and see what he does.

 

he's definitely top 5. probably #1 right now in my book

(career 3.75 ERA with a 1.22 WHIP on the road, btw. not too shabby

2.73 ERA with a 0.900 WHIP on the road last season... holy F)

Felix Hernandez is pretty awesome. Convenient choice right now due to the perfect game, but he's definitely a candidate.

He's pretty good, yet overrated. Take him out of the AL Central where he does most of his damage and see what he does.

 

 

I think you're underrating him...

I just believe if he was in the AL/NL East and maybe NL Central, he wouldn't do so well. AL Central is weak, NL and AL West have huge parks [save Texas]. Not saying he's a bad pitcher at all, but not the best.

 

Durable as hell, though, I'll say that! Dude could probably go 14 innings if you needed him to do so.

Yes.

 

/close thread

I just believe if he was in the AL/NL East and maybe NL Central, he wouldn't do so well. AL Central is weak, NL and AL West have huge parks [save Texas]. Not saying he's a bad pitcher at all, but not the best.

 

Durable as hell, though, I'll say that! Dude could probably go 14 innings if you needed him to do so.

 

 

The White Sox have a good team, the Indians have the 8th best offense against RHP, the Royals have an average offense against RHP, and Minnesota's offense isn't exactly terrible either.

 

If he was in the NL Central, he'd get to face teams like the Astros, Cubs, etc. + the NL, in general, has weaker lineups. He'd get to face the pitcher instead of the DH. I'm sure coming to the NL East and facing teams like the Marlins wouldn't hurt him either.

 

The Tigers also have the worst .BABIP against in the American League. His defense kinda sucks.

 

Saying he's overrated is nitpicking because you could say the same things for just about every pitcher, if not more so. Like, for example, Felix Hernandez (who's also great) gets to pitch half his games at Safeco. Jered Weaver is a flyball pitcher with amazing defensive outfielders like Mike Trout and Peter Bourjos on his team.

 

I don't see how anyone could realistically put up a very strong argument negating the opinion that Verlander is the best pitcher in baseball, especially the past couple of years.