Future Hall of Famer Justin Verlander Announces Retirement After 2026 MLB Season

One of the greatest pitchers in recent history is officially hanging up his cleats at the end of this season.

Detroit Tigers ace Justin Verlander announced on Wednesday that this will be the final season of his Hall of Fame career, bringing an end to a 21-year run in MLB across multiple teams, multiple championships and one of the best pitching résumés of this era.

Verlander indicated he never wanted to retire because of a certain milestone or a particular age. Instead, he wanted the game to tell him when it was time to be done.

And after a handful of injuries this season, his body is telling him now is that time.

Verlander will finish his career as a three-time Cy Young Award winner, two-time World Series champion, AL MVP, multiple-time no-hitter author and one of the most dominant starting pitchers of this generation. He’s consistently been one of the biggest names in the sport for quite some time.

The poetry of it all is that, after returning to Detroit, Verlander gets to close out his career wearing a Tigers uniform. That’s the same franchise that drafted him and watched him develop into an early superstar.

He’s also an MLB All-Star Legends pick this season, giving fans one more chance to celebrate him among the game’s greats on that stage.

While injuries have limited him this season, they don’t put any damper on his overall career.

For baseball fans out there, this season is the last opportunity to watch one of the greats take the mound.