Justin Verlander, who will turn 42 in late February, is about to enter his 20th season this year after reaching a one-year, $15 million contract with the San Francisco Giants, and he said in a video interview today (14th) that he will prove that he can still pitch in the major leagues.

Excluding only 1 game in the 2020 epidemic shrinkage season and being unable to play in the whole season due to TJ surgery in 2021, from 2005 to 2024, Verlander played for the Tigers, Astros, and Mets, and all 526 games were starts, with a total of 62 wins and 147 losses, a self-responsibility rate of 3.30, and 3416K, of which the number of starts, wins, 3415.2 games, strikeouts, and completed shots (26 games) are the first active players, In particular, the number of strikeouts has reached the tenth place in the history of the strikeout list.

But it can't be denied that 2024 will be a year for Verlander, with a 5-6 record in 17 games all season, and a whopping 5.48 ERA, which is the worst record of his career since playing at least 17 games in a single season.

Of course, this may be due to his poor health, but at the age of 41, it would not be a surprise for Verlander to announce that he is leaving Pitcher Mound at any time, but it is clearly not yet time to make an announcement.

"Personally, I want to show that I'm still good, that I've achieved enough in my career, and that if I don't think I'm good enough, I'm not going to come back," Verlander said. Being 41 has really had a bit of an impact on me, so I made adjustments at the end of the season and I feel like it's rewarding a lot."

The "adjustment" is that Verlander has always been a complete absence at the end of the season, but he has continued to train to keep his shoulders alive since the end of last season, hoping to avoid shoulder problems that have occurred in the past few years when spring training starts during a full offseason.

"You can tell that my passion is still there, and the flame of competition continues to burn. When I wanted to finish my career as a player after I was 45, I did look at the problems I had last year, which is different from 2014 and 2015, when I had core problems and had surgery, and I learned from last year how to keep pitching."

Verlander admits that he didn't see the Giants as a possible team to join at the beginning of the offseason, but he became interested in the Giants after Buster Posey officially took over as president of Giants baseball operations.

Posey also said in the video: "When we had a conversation a few weeks ago, it was clear that he still had a strong motivation and that you wouldn't be able to reach the level of greatness he had without the perseverance and desire to be the best he did. When you think about this generation of pitchers, to me, Justin is definitely the best of the best, and it's exciting for us to come to San Francisco to continue his playing career and continue to build his resume as a Hall of Fame pitcher."

Like some of the most famous players in the past who are about to retire, Verlander will not only play an important role in the starting rotation when he comes to the Giants, but also become a mentor to the Giants' pitcher group, and if the young pitchers can learn something from it, it will definitely be a positive benefit for the Giants' future.

And the next question is how to get Verlander's jersey number, because he has been wearing the number 35 jersey since 2006 except for the two starters in 2005 when he first entered the major league, but this is the back number of Giant's recently retired star Brandon Crawford, which may be the back number of Giant's retirement in the future.

Verlander said: "I've thought about it, and of course Brandon has a legendary career here, and I know Buster has spoken to him privately and he's blessed him, but I haven't spoken to him personally, and I don't know how the fans feel, so I don't want to have a bad relationship in the first place, you know? So I'm hoping to meet Brandon and get a clearer answer."