In early July, Justin Verlander announced that he will retire after the 2026 season. This is certainly huge news in baseball. Justin Verlander is one of the best pitchers in the majors. Without a doubt, he will soon become a Hall of Famer after retiring.
While reading news about Verlander’s announcement, I’m just thinking about his performance in the majors. Well, he already earned 260+ wins and he’s a member of the 3000-strikeout club. Verlander’s performance is surely impressive. However, I’m also thinking about his performance in the postseason. Moreover, Clayton Kershaw retired after the 2025 season. How about these 2 pitchers’ performances in the postseason? To solve my doubt, I decided to check on the MLB website.
To think about something different, I decided to go through their performances in different series.
Firstly, let’s look at the division series. Justin Verlander has made 14 starts and 1 relief appearance in the division series, posting a 2.86 ERA and a 1.13 WHIP over 85 innings. He also struck out 96 batters. Opponents only hit .207 against him in the division series. Hence, it’s clear that he has pitched well in the division series.
Kershaw made 15 starts and 3 relief appearances in the division series. He tossed 92.1 innings, posting a 4.97 ERA and a 1.20 WHIP. He threw 106 strikeouts in the division series and had a .248 BAA. Well, Kershaw’s performance in the division series wasn’t so good.
In addition, let’s look at their performance in the league championship series. In the LCS, Justin Verlander has made 14 starts, posting a 3.19 ERA and a 0.99 WHIP over 93 innings. Opponents hit .205 against him and he struck out 98 batters. Well, his ERA in the LCS is higher than his ERA in the DS. But it seems that he can still control the LCS in his career.
Looking at Kershaw’s stats, he made 10 starts and 4 relief appearances in the LCS. He owned a 4.84 ERA and a 1.20 WHIP over 57.2 innings. He struck out 53 batters and had a .236 BAA. Thus, looking at these 2 pitchers’ performances in the LCS, it seems that Verlander has done a better job.
Finally, let’s look at their performances in the Fall Classic. Verlander has made 9 starts in the World Series. He owns an ERA over 5 in the World Series and has a .245 BAA. Meanwhile, he threw 50 strikeouts in 48 innings.
Looking at Kershaw’s stats in the Fall Classic, he made 6 starts and 2 relief appearances, posting a 4.42 ERA and a 1.06 WHIP over 38.2 innings. Opponents batted .216 against him in the World Series. Well, an ERA over 4 doesn’t look good. Nonetheless, it seems that Kershaw’s numbers look better than Verlander’s in the Fall Classic.
Verlander and Kershaw are both outstanding pitchers in the majors. Nevertheless, they are both humans and could face struggles. Overall, Verlander’s stats look more impressive than Kershaw’s in the postseason. Nonetheless, Verlander has an ERA over 5 in the World Series. It’s still unknown if the Tigers will clinch a spot in the postseason. If they do, it will be worthwhile to watch Verlander’s performance in October and how long they will go.
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