Mike Fitzpatrick, The Associated Press
NEW YORK — Justin Verlander and Albert Pujols were voted major league baseball’s top comebacks on Tuesday.
After Tommy John surgery, Verlander helped Houston win the World Series for a second time.
The right-handed ace earned the Cy Young for the third time in his career. He was a unanimous choice for this honor.
Verlander topped the big leagues in ERA.
A ninth-time all-star, Verlander went 18-4 with a 1.75 GAA.
Victorious in Game 5 of the World Series, he obtained his first career win at the Fall Classic.
The 39-year-old Gunner has made just one start in 2020 and missed the entire 2021 campaign.
Returning to the Cardinals for his final season, slugger Pujols delivered his best batting numbers in a long time, at 42.
He notably reached the milestone of 700 long balls, becoming the fourth player in history to do so.
Pujols hit .270 in 109 games, with 24 home runs and 68 RBIs.
He hadn’t hit that many long balls since scoring 31 in 2016 with the Angels.
A member of 11 all-star teams, Pujols retired after St. Louis was eliminated in the first round of the playoffs by the Phillies.
Pujols is second in history with 2,218 RBIs, as well as ninth with 3,384 hits.
The poll was conducted among the 30 MLB.com reporters assigned to cover a particular team.
