Astros ace and current AL Cy Young Award winner Justin Verlander has been diagnosed with a forearm injury and has been discharged due to injury, USA Today’s Bob Nightengale reported. An MRI yesterday revealed the tension. Manager Dusty Baker told reporters that Verlander will be terminated “for a couple of weeks” before being reevaluated.
Verlander started the Astros’ first game of the season on Friday and scored his first win of 2020, pitching six innings allowing two runs, three hits and striking out seven. In that start against the Mariners, Verlander’s fastball averaged 94.9 mph and reached 96.7, according to Statcast.
Last year, his average fastball speed was 94.6 mph. He threw 73 pitches, but there were no outward signs that the 37-year-old was injured. According to Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle, Verlander later told the Astros that his right arm was “tender” during Friday’s game.
He was scheduled to make his next outing Wednesday against the Dodgers. As of now, Baker and the Astros have not decided who will replace Verlander in the rotation.
Verlander had already run into his fair share of health issues this spring, with a lat injury and right groin surgery that forced him to rehab during the season’s coronavirus delay, but he made a good recovery. and it was ready in Spring Training 2.0.
It goes without saying that any injury to the staff ace is a devastating blow to one of this year’s World Series favorites. Even with Verlander anchoring the staff, there were questions about the Astros’ rotation after the departure of co-ace Gerrit Cole in the winter. With Lance McCullers Jr. coming out of surgery on Tommy John and Josh James and Jose Urquidy yet to demonstrate their ability to withstand a greater workload, it was no secret that the Astros’ rotation could not replicate the historic success of last year. .
Of course, Baker’s wording means there’s hope that Verlander will be back on the field in a matter of weeks, and if that’s the case, the Astros’ depth would likely allow them to put together a rotation in the meantime. But if the forearm strain requires a long-term DL period, as we know any arm injury can, the Astros will face much bigger problems.
In light of Verlander’s injury, players like Zack Greinke, McCullers, James and Jose Urquidy will take on bigger roles on Houston’s pitching team. That’s not a bad unit, and Greinke has a track record for an ace, but Houston’s depth will certainly be challenged by Verlander’s absence, however much it may be.
An earlier version of this story stated that Verlander would miss the remainder of the season, according to this report. As of now, that is not correct; The only schedule given by the Astros is that Verlander’s forearm strain will be re-evaluated in a couple of weeks. (GG) (Taken MLB Rumors.Com)