Verlander snares lone victory of 2025, now 5th all-time in wins

After sitting on the sidelines most of the season, Justin Verlander snuck in a few starts, including a single but significant win on the final day of the season.

The 42-year-old Verlander had been on the free agent list all year after getting cut loose in spring training by Newark. The 42-year-old veteran finally got a call in September from cellar-dwelling Erie and he took it. He started three games, including earning his lone win in the season finale. The three starts helped him reach 497 for his career, matching Vancouver legend Greg Maddux for 3rd all time. His 1-0 mark in 2025 also improved his career total to 207, moving into a tie with Pedro Martinez for No. 5 all-time. Not far ahead are Roger Clemens (211, 4th) and Zack Greinke (217, 3rd).

Verlander is among the top three active leaders in DMBL pitching, along with Max Scherzer and Clayton Kershaw. All three were drafted in 2025 but only Verlander qualified for DMBL (Scherzer, 41, missed out by 1 start). Kershaw and Scherzer have been rostered all season by Poovey Farms and Philly, respectively, after being drafted in the 14th and 13th rounds, respectively (Newark picked Verlander in the 8th). The trio, all eligible for DMBL 2026, are within the top 9 all-time in career starts, innings, wins, losses; and top 4 in strikeouts. Kershaw, 37, has already announced that DMBL 2026 will be his final season.

Among active pitchers, Chris Sale of Green Lake moved up the all-time pitching charts the most in 2025 thanks to a healthy season of 31 starts - his first season of at least 30 starts since 2020. The 36-year-old lefty went 12-8, ending the season with 138 wins. That moves him into a tie with Jake Peavy for No. 24 all-time, having passed fellow southpaws Jon Lester and Mark Buehrle (127) as well as Bartolo Colon (129) and Adam Wainwright (134). Next up for Sale is a three-way tie among Felix Hernandez, Cole Hamels, and David Price for 20th all-time in wins (140). He also became the 29th pitcher to reach 100 losses, now with 101.

Sale quickly moved into the top 10 in strikeouts (2,513), passing Cole Hamels (2,336) and just 40 behind Curt Schilling (2,553, 8th). He's gotten there in much fewer starts (295, No. 32) and innings (2,096.3, No. 29) than most. It helps that he set the single-season strikeout record in 2018 with 367 and routinely has put up 200+ strikeouts during his 11 DMBL seasons.

A lengthy IL stint likely cost Florida's Kenley Jansen a milestone in 2025. He returned in the final weeks of the season but ended the year with 999 career appearances after 57 this season. Only Mariano Rivera (1,268) has more appearances. Jensen, who turns 38 at the end of this month, also notched 19 saves, moving past Troy Percival (187) and Trevor Hoffman (192) this year, and stands 4 saves away from being the 4th reliever to register 200 saves.