Detroit Tigers: Is Justin Verlander the New Denny McLain?

Does anyone remember a "shooting star" of a pitcher named Denny McLain? Yours truly is old enough to do so, from 1968.

McLain was a hard thrower with quite a fastball.

More to the point, when he made his mark at the age of 24, he won 31 games, lost six, and got four no-decisions. Meaning that he started 41 games and completed 28 of them. During this time, he pitched 336 innings.

These were the days of the four man rotation.

Justin Verlander is the closest thing today to Denny McLain.

He is also a fastball thrower, clocked in the high 90s or higher. This season, he has won 11 straight games for a total of 23 victories, with probably three more games to pitch in the season.

Thirty wins is not a possibility for him. But 25 certainly is.

Like McLain, Verlander pitches to a "two-ish" ERA. His .821 win percentage is reminiscent of McLain's .838, and he is the first Tiger to lead the American League in this respect since McLain himself.

His four(!) complete games places him third in the American League in this regard.

Althought McLain had pretty much taken the Tigers to the World Series, with the assistance of Mickey Lolich (17-9), he didn't do so well in the World Series itself.

The exhausted pitcher went 1-2 against the St. Louis Cardinals,  with both of his losses against the redoubtable Bob Gibson.

It was veteran Mickey Lolich who went 3-0, to give the Tigers the four wins they needed to take the series.

It's fair to say that Verlander's 18-game win differential represents most of the reason why the Tigers will probably go to the post season.

Having pitched only 31 games, he probably has the "gas" for four or five more after the regular season.

But he will probably have to do better than McLain did at that point, if the Tigers are to get to, or win the World Series.

That's because there's no obvious "Mickey Lolich" behind him in Max Scherzer, Rick Porcello, or Brad Penny (although one or more of the veterans might hold up better in October ball).

McLain won the Cy Young award in 1968 and again in 1969, but his career went downhill from there.

A combination of pitching exhaustion and personal problems (including a suspension by Major League Baseball) allowed him to pitch only sporadically for the next few seasons, with his ERA ballooning above 6.00, before he left the game.

Justin Verlander appears to be a "McLain"-caliber pitcher. But we now live in a more enlightened era where 200-plus, rather than 300-plus, innings per season, and a start every five days, instead of four, is the norm.

Also, pitchers aren't expected to throw mostly complete games.

Verlander has been in the mix for a Cy Young award, but hasn't yet won one.

But in any event, he will hopefully have a less-checkered career than McLain did after what may be his "high water mark."