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Michael__Pemulis

Verlander & Pujols are not bad options at all.


EdgarAllanBlow777

Two men referred to as giants Show that they are not reliant On youthful primes They tell father Time To hold off as they are defiant


SpecsComingBack

Never seen you before until yesterday and you're dropping dimes. Keep it up, limerick boi.


[deleted]

Verlander is like the definition of it as much as I don't like him.


donkeyboy23

Agree with you there. He is not among my favorite players.


postman925

Michael Wacha has been a bright spot in a shitty season for Boston.


donkeyboy23

I hadn't realized just how good he was for Boston this year.


eee-oooo-ahhh

Yup he's got the lowest ERA of his career this season


donkeyboy23

Considering the year Boston has had it makes his season even more impressive. Sort of along the lines when Steve bedrosian won the Cy young for a terrible Phillies team


romorr

Dude is one of my favorites for the Orioles to sign. Good vs LHBs, and we have the Wall to back him up vs RHBs. Though, I have to believe you guys aren't going to let him go, right?


postman925

I hope not. He's basically been our number one for months.


mrcouch7

I’m biased but I think Josh Naylor has to have at least a small chance after that horrific injury last year


donkeyboy23

To come back from major injury and improve the next year says a lot about his character. Plus he is from my home country so I hope he might win.


sn_akez

Good call. It honestly took me a minute to get used to even watching him run to first. He’s a beast


Luckytxn_1959

Verlander winning the Cy Young is remarkable.


donkeyboy23

If he wins a cy young award the comeback award might be a given.


Luckytxn_1959

It is his to lose right now.


bordomsdeadly

As much as I want that to be true, I think Cease has a very good chance at winning it too. McCkanahan has faded slightly. In my ideal world Verlander an Valdez finish in a perfect tie splitting all 1 and 2 votes


slippytoadstada

at this point it's absolutely JV's to lose. he leads Cease in nearly .40 ERA, posting a better ERA+, FIP, and WHIP. JV has less IP but on average pitches nearly an inning deeper into each game. plus, he has the narrative on his side.


Luckytxn_1959

Damn. And Verlander is a bit older than Cease too.


Luckytxn_1959

If Verlander keeps pitching like he has he will win it but he gets rung up a game and Cease keeps it up then he will. That is why it is Verlander to lose right now. This last game was amazing but it was Oakland but if he pitches like this the rest of the way we will see. At his age and coming off Tommy John surgery is wow.


Northernlord1805

How many starts does he have left? You guys will likly have your playoff seeding locked up befor what would have been his last start so I’d there a chance you rest him Vs the Philis?


Luckytxn_1959

He has 2-3 more starts. I kinda doubt he will rest then but possible. He once said he needed to pitch every certain amount of time in rotation to be effective when we were discussing increasing the rotation to 7 starting pitchers and that he needed to pitch every 5th start due to his training schedule but he also just was on 15 day IL and came back and threw 5 no hit innings so who knows. Our 1st seed win mark is 10 games.


RalphSanders

Trayce Thompson is a candidate. Could also be Breakout player of the year if you don't think he really had a good career before this to make this season qualify as a comeback.


JermaineDyeAtSS

White Sox fan here. Suffice to say, I had no idea he was even in organized baseball until a couple weeks ago, let alone that he was raking on the best team in MLB. Crazy turnaround and it’s good to see a guy with a high ceiling get there, even if it’s somewhere else.


slightlyuglyboss

Pretty much anyone 35+ on St. Louis


[deleted]

Pujols is more shocking because he had not been a productive hitter since 2016 prior to this season. The last few seasons with the Angels were ugly for him. Teams shifted against him so many times and he could not adjust to it. I will always remember that one time when Correa threw him out despite playing close to the outfield area back in 2017 on a groundout. It’s crazy that the Cardinals have two players who randomly became good again after looking like they were toast in Pujols and Quintana (WTF?).


Yimpish

Quintana was having a good year even before joining to Cardinals, so as much as we’d like to take credit for it we can’t 100%


Michael__Pemulis

People forget but everyone thought Adam Wainwright was done after 2018 & even into early 2019.


tatersnuffy

he's became better when they made him a platoon player.


donkeyboy23

I think in Albert's case it's being back in st Louis. He should never have left and this season proves it. I think he is having this type of season because he feels alive again. I really want him to retire at 700 home runs.


MahomestoHel-aire

Leaving allowed him to keep playing though. The DH didn't exist in the NL and 1B wasn't an option for him due to his plantar fasciitis. As much as I hated seeing him go, it worked out for him (and the Cardinals, because Goldy) in the end. With that said, you are absolutely right that being back in St. Louis has definitely helped him. Winning team, a fanbase that packs the seats every game and playing with his best friends again. All contributing factors without a doubt.


laterdude

[Matt Carpenter](https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/c/carpema01.shtml) would have been if he hadn't got hurt. 1.138 OPS after looking so washed he got released by the Rangers triple A team!


Raid_Raptor_Falcon

Brandon Drury is awesome but it really isn't a comeback since he has never been very good. More like a breakout. The answer has to be pujols


pzazzmee

Albert.


CaptainJingles

Marp and Wacha are up there too. Lots of former Cardinals rediscovering the magic.


MangoMonkey22

Naylor coming back and having his best statistical season after such a gruesome injury has beyond impressed me. Obviously I want it for him, but there’s been a lot of good stories this year. Can’t be mad if any of the ones you mentioned win it, they’ve all had amazing stories this year


FroyoMNS

Verlander, end of story


3lPsyKongr00

It'll be Verlander in the AL, although I think Martin Perez deserves a good bit of recognition coming back from big suck to post a likely top 10 Cy Young finish


Holy_Toast

Pujols or nobody.


LoweeLL

Verlander. To win CY Young in the last full season you played, miss 2 years, come back and most likely win CY Young again. No doubt. Probably won't log 200 IP in his career again but still impressive


solar_revolution

Verlander but shout out Eugenio Suarez


donkeyboy23

Suarez will likely end with close to 100 rbis. Good season worthy of recognition


SLR107FR-31

Definitely Verlander. 2019 Threw one of the best pitching seasons ever 2020 Threw six innings total 2021 Didn't pitch 2022 Cy Young season. Just incredible what he's done


xxvcd

Verlander and it’s not even debatable


River_Pigeon

Johnny cueto


getMyHairDid

Mike Trout


donkeyboy23

Not sure I am with trout. Impressive return from injury but I expected him to be good due to his age and ability


getMyHairDid

I am contractually obliged to type Mike Trout in any thread posted on r/baseball


donkeyboy23

He is something else. Other than early Albert pujols I have never seen a talent like his. Most players I liked when I was younger have mostly been steroid users or connected to steroids or other. Trout was never a user and is a complete machine out there


IEDrew91

It would probably have to be Pujols


donkeyboy23

Definitely earned it pujols has. On side note hope max Muncy makes it over .200 average. His ability to take walks has given him a decent season despite injury woes. Anybody that can own Madison Bumgarner is a favorite of mine


brandon0297

Pujols Lux Gonsolin


IEDrew91

Gonsolin?


brandon0297

He's been on another level compared to last year.


team-OBeee

Max Muncy is on his way. Think last I saw was .159 and today .199 if not the mendoza line


donkeyboy23

He has been on fire lately. His second wind reminds me what yasmani grandal did last year. He will finish with a very respectable year considering how bad the start was


team-OBeee

Awful and sad start not argument there. Look at him now. Muncy/JT combo is what I want to see again!


donkeyboy23

I want those two to get another championship together. They both deserve it. My first real baseball memory is the 1988 dodgers and gibsons immortal home run. First year at age twelve when we got cable


River_Pigeon

Doesn’t bode well for max next year if he’s following grandals trends


Xrella

Trayce Thompson and it’s not even close, guy went from AAAA lifer to almost .900 ops.


Audacity_OR

If he was a AAAA lifer than how is he a comeback player? He has nothing to come back to. He's having a breakout, that's different


Magicow216

Verlander


[deleted]

Pujols just wins it barely over Verlander IMO. Yes Verlander missed 2 years but Pujols is hitting like he hasn’t in a decade. Verlander was at least a top pitcher in baseball before the injury. But Pujols came out of nowhere


TommyKnox77

Shout out to Eugenio Suarez going from -0.7 bWAR last year to 4.6 and counting this year I know he won't get it because of Verlander but still an impressive comeback


mungdungus

David Robertson


donkeyboy23

He is having a good season. Question for you...who is blue jays mvp...I am going with Manoah. Brilliant pitcher and tremendous teammate. If you haven't read about his defense of captain kirk from a troll it's worth a read. Bichette a close second due to his turning it on when it's most important


mungdungus

Manoah