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Justin Verlander is going to be an All-Star, but thats burying the lede: Hes also retiring after this year.
Plus: Losing a no-hitter is pretty easy to do, the Rays have stopped walking hitters and Ken Rosenthal has a note on a draft bust that (eventually) went boom.
Im Levi Weaver welcome to The Windup! Advertisement Legendary: Verlander will retire an All-Star The first announcement wasnt entirely unexpected: As part of the Commissioners Legend Pick, Justin Verlander would be an All Star for the 10th time in his career.
Not long after the All-Star nod, Verlander posted some additional news on social media: This season will be his last.
I suppose thats not a huge surprise, either.
Verlander is 43 years old, after all.
Hes the oldest active player in the four major North American sports.
He has outrun the finish line for longer than most, but nobody evades the end forever.
But he sure did try.
Two Cy Youngs after the age of 35? Not even Nolan Ryan did that.
And in his media availability, Verlander alluded to a desire to come back this year from his second injury, a hamstring strain that piggybacked on a hip issue, limiting him to one start thus far.
This year was meant to be a homecoming a victory lap with the Tigers team that drafted him in 2004, before the Astros2, Mets or Giants years.
Detroit was also supposed to be a contender this year.
Its season is now on life support, if not entirely dead.
But the opportunity for a storybook ending still technically exists, even if by the thinnest of margins.
One thing that seems certain, however: Verlander will come up short of 300 wins (hes at 266) and 4,000 strikeouts (hes at 3,554, good for eighth all-time).
The last player to 300 wins was Randy Johnson, back in 2009.
As Tyler Kepner muses: If Verlander isnt getting to 300 wins, it seems likely that nobody ever will again.
Even his younger contemporaries recognize theyre now playing a different game entirely.
But Verlander didnt ask to be the avatar of the death of an era.
(Neither did Max Scherzer, who hasnt announced a damn thing, by the way.) He was just extremely good at what he did, for long enough to be an all-time great.
Advertisement Middle Relief: What a great draft pick (eventually) Today, we have an excerpt from Kens latest column, which features a lot of trade deadline reporting, but also this fun nugget: When the Tampa Bay Rays pick second in the amateur draft that begins Saturday, it will be their highest selection since they chose shortstop Tim Beckham with the first pick in 2008.
Beckham played for four teams in a seven-year major-league career, never fulfilling the promise of a 1-1 pick.
Pedro Alvarez went second in 2008, Eric Hosmer third, Brian Matusz fourth and (gulp) Buster Posey fifth.
But the selection wasnt a complete loss for the Rays.
At the 2017 deadline, the Rays sent Beckham to the Orioles for pitcher Tobias Myers.
And in November 2021, they dealt Myers to the Cleveland Guardians for third baseman Junior Caminero, who was 18 at the time and had not yet played in the United States.
Caminero, over 171 plate appearances in his first season in the Dominican Summer League, batted .295 with a .914 OPS.
He intrigued the Rays with the way he made hard, frequent contact.
But he didnt intrigue them that much.
The Rays, according to officials with both clubs who were granted anonymity for their candor, asked the Guardians for other players first.
Both the Rays miss on Beckham and the Guardians miss on Caminero serve as reminders of the humbling nature of player evaluation.
Rather than brag about the Caminero deal, Rays officials will talk about another seemingly minor deal in which they gave up a future All-Star right-hander Cristopher Sanchez, whom they sent to the Philadelphia Phillies for infielder Curtis Mead in November 2019.
The Different Paths ..
to losing a no-hitter A few days ago, I mentioned that Marlins starter Eury Perez was pulled six outs from a perfect game, having thrown 92 pitches.
At the time, Marlins manager Clayton McCullough said the Marlins were looking beyond the regular season.
After all, Perez had Tommy John surgery in early 2024 and was only three starts removed from an IL stint for a gracilis (leg) strain.
Advertisement Yesterday, a nearly-identical situation unfolded in Pittsburgh, where Pirates starter Jared Jones was perfect through six innings and just 77 pitches.
Pirates manager Don Kelly pulled him anyway.
Before you complain, remember: Jones also missed the 2025 season after UCL surgery, and only returned on May 29 of this year.
In the seven starts between Jones return and yesterday, his highest pitch total was 81.
In both the Marlins and Pirates games, the decision led to some heightened heart rates.
- On Sunday, the Marlins were leading 8-0 when Perez departed, and they barely held on for a 9-8 win over the As.
- The Pirates werent so lucky.
After Jones was lifted yesterday, the Braves scored three runs in the late innings, winning 3-0.
What was it Paul Simon wrote all those years ago? There are 50 ways to lose a no-hitter? Consider Blue Jays pitcher Dylan Cease, whose season-high entering yesterday was 110 pitches.
After seven no-hit innings yesterday against the Giants, he was already at 106, leaving Blue Jays manager John Schneider with a choice to make.
Pull his pitcher, or let him go for history? Schneider made the decision to let Cease keep pitching.
Twice, in fact: Cease was at 115 pitches when the eighth inning ended with the no-hitter intact, and Schneider sent him back out for the ninth.
If I can let a player have that opportunity, Schneider said postgame, Im going to do it every single time.
Maybe not every single time, but as long as Im allowed to.
So Cease trotted back out there, looking for Torontos first no-hitter since Dave Stieb in 1990.
Alas, like so many times before, it wasnt meant to be for the Blue Jays: Giants outfielder Heliot Ramos singled to begin the ninth inning.
It was Torontos 13th no-hitter lost in the ninth inning, per MLB Network.
Thats the most in baseball, four more than the Tigers.
We have a story on our site that is weirdly relevant to all of this.
Last year, a former MLB pitcher wrote what it was like to lose a no-hitter in the ninth inning, and what stuck with him from it.
Its worth your time.
Advertisement Around The League We got a few new tidbits from around the league last night.
Lets review: - Its not the first time weve seen this happen (hello, Randy Arozarena), but Alex Call made a big no-no last night: He blew through both of the Dodgers challenges in one at-bat in the first inning.
It didnt end up costing the Dodgers (61-33) too much they scored an eighth-inning run and beat the Rockies (38-56) 4-3.
- The Rays (54-36) spent the back half of June a few games behind the Yankees (50-42) in the AL East.
After last nights 3-0 win over New York, Tampa now holds a five-game lead in the division.
Junior Caminero is the star, but dont overlook the pitching staff.
Since the Rays last walk (in the fifth inning of Mondays game), they have 37 strikeouts against the Yankees.
- Speaking of walks ..
the Guardians (47-46) had a 5-3 lead going into the seventh inning last night against the Twins (46-47).
Then it went like this: walk, flyout, walk (pitching change), walk, walk, walk (pitching change, game tied 5-5), flyout, popout.
The Twins later won on an Alan Roden walk-off single in the ninth.
- The Red Sox (42-48) beat the White Sox (47-44) 5-0.
Paired with an 8-1 Boston win on Tuesday, that means Chicago has lost a home series for the first time since late April, when the Nats won two of three.
Handshakes and High Fives Yordan Alvarez is threatening a triple-crown win.
Hes having one of the best first halves of a season in recent memory.
And hes tranquilo about it all.
Chandler Rome profiles the Astros superstar.
This season has its first 20/20 (20 home runs and 20 stolen bases) player: Its Pete Crow-Armstrong.
An Anthony Volpe controversy and a New York media controversy story, all in one?? Here ya go, if thats your thing.
It was a weird couple of days for Willson Contreras (which is saying something).
After being named to the All-Star team and the announcement that he was going to participate in the Home Run Derby, he fouled a ball off his foot and left the game.
He told reporters he thinks hes OK.
Regardless, hes been a force for the Red Sox this year, our Jen McCaffrey writes.
James Wood and CJ Abrams get most of the attention on the Nationals, but Luis Garcia Jr.
has been a huge part of the teams success.
Expected, but still a bummer for Cubs fans: Its highly unlikely that Justin Steele will be able to return as a starter in 2026.
Moving the MLB Draft to All-Star weekend (near the trade deadline) has made life harder and more hectic for front-office members and everyone else in and around the sport, but at least none of the top prospects want to attend.
Soooo ..
can we move it back? Off the Wall: No dedicated link for this (I mean ..
your local library or bookstore, I guess?) but I finally read A Wrinkle in Time, and if you havent read it, well ..
its a classic for a reason.
Most-clicked in our last Windup: Ryan OHearns 10-RBI night.
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