Houston Astros Star Celebrated On Top 100 Pro Athletes List

This Houston Astros Cy Young winner is part of ESPN’s new list of the Top 100 pro athletes in the 21st century.

Jun 9, 2024; Anaheim, California, USA; Houston Astros starting pitcher Justin Verlander (35) pitches during the third inning against the Los Angeles Angels at Angel Stadium. / Kiyoshi Mio-USA TODAY Sports

Since 2017, the Houston Astros have won two World Series and reached the American League Championship Series every year. So, there have been plenty of great players to come through the franchise.

But, so far, only one current Houston player is on ESPN’s new list of the Top 100 pro athletes in the 21st century — pitcher Justin Verlander.

Right now, Verlander is on the team’s injured list fighting a neck injury. It hasn’t been his best season. The 41-year-old is 3-2 in 10 starts with a 3.95 ERA.

But, his entire career has been in the 21st century, and the future Hall-of Famer, who debuted as a 22-year-old with Detroit in 2005, has put together one of the best careers in recent memory.

He has a career record of 260-143 with a 3.25 ERA. He’s led the Majors in wins three times and the American League in wins a fourth time. He’s led the AL in ERA twice and the Majors in the category once. He’s led the Majors in strikeouts three times and the AL two other times.

The credentials are Cooperstown-ready. He’s won the Cy Young three times, been to the All-Star Game nine times, won two World Series titles (both with Houston), claimed the 2006 AL Rookie of the Year award with the Tigers and is in the Top 15 all-time in strikeouts. He’s also thrown three no-hitters.

The Tigers traded him to Houston at the deadline in 2017 and he remained with Houston until after the 2022 season. He signed with the New York Mets but was traded back to Houston last July.

With the Astros he is 71-24 with a 2.48 ERA. He won two of his Cy Youngs with Houston.

ESPN received more than 70,000 votes from contributors that were only allowed to take into account an athlete’s success the past 25 years. Nos. 26-100 have been released and the Top 25 will be released on Thursday.

The other MLB players in the Top 100 to this point are pitcher Pedro Martinez (No. 92), pitcher Roy Halladay (No. 88), infielder Bryce Harper (No. 79), infielder Mookie Betts (No. 73), two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani (No. 62), pitcher Mariano Rivera (No. 59), infielder Derek Jeter (No. 53), infielder Adrian Beltré (No. 52), pitcher Max Scherzer (No. 46), designated hitter David Ortiz (No. 45), infielder Alex Rodriguez (No. 43), outfielder Barry Bonds (No. 38), outfielder Ichiro Suzuki (No. 37), infielder Miguel Cabrera (No. 33), pitcher Clayton Kershaw (No. 31) and outfielder Mike Trout (No. 30).