The Astros announced Tuesday that right-hander Justin Verlander underwent a surgical procedure on his right groin. He’d been slowed by a lat strain earlier this month, but Verlander was also scratched from an earlier spring start due to tightness in his groin. That was deemed a precautionary measure at the time, but general manager James Click revealed today that the right-hander had a setback in rehabbing the issue.
“The hope was that physical therapy would be the proper course of action,” Click told reporters (Twitter link via Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle). “However, after a recent setback in his rehab, the medical staff recommended that a surgical procedure was necessary. The early prognosis is that Justin will be out for about six weeks.”
With the season pushed back at least eight weeks — quite likely longer than that — Verlander should have ample time to get back up to speed once players are cleared to resume training and once a firm target date for Opening Day is established.
Verlander’s health is paramount for the Astros more than ever, now that Gerrit Cole and (to a lesser extent) Wade Miley have departed via free agency. Houston’s 2020 roster is pricey enough that they’ll face luxury-tax penalties for the first time, and the front office opted to spend the limited resources afforded by owner Jim Crane to bring back catcher Martin Maldonado and reliever Joe Smith.
The hope is certainly that a returning Lance McCullers Jr. and young righty Jose Urquidy, whose stock soared in 2019, can join Verlander and Greinke in comprising a formidable top four. Offseason acquisition Austin Pruitt and holdovers like Brad Peacock, Josh James and Framber Valdez could all be in the mix for starts in the final rotation slot. Right-hander Rogelio Armenteros could eventually be in the mix, although he recently underwent surgery to have a bone spur removed from his elbow. Unlike Verlander, he’ll be sidelined for around four months, so he wouldn’t be an option to pitch until July at the earliest. Given the uncertainty regarding Opening Day, it’s anyone’s guess as to what point in the season that’ll be — or if the season will have even started.
Might as well get the procedure done now. Smart decision.
Now he will miss no time. Smh. Hope he gets destroyed upon return.
Don’t understand why everyone all of a sudden hates Verlander
Haters hate.
So… lovers love?
Also, a refrigerator is a refrigerator.
Its more about if you play for the Astros you are automatically hated now.
Of course, Houston = Cheater
It’s because he’s a hypocritical clown who suddenly goes silent when the stuff he destroys other people over directly impact him.
See: how it’s ok when Osuna came aboard but he ripped into the minor leaguer for domestic abuse.
He was actually pretty vocal about his disapproval of Osuna coming aboard.
This is true
They don’t hate Verlander, they hate the Astros.
And because of what the Astros did, it’s a rational hate.
not ezzactly sudden, I hated them before. I just hate them even more now. Verlander is trying to avoid the early fan reaction. He should just go get the lat surgery also.
He should also see someone about his torn Labia…
Imagine really believing that Verlander is scared to pitch because of negative fan reaction. Lol!
Didn’t have a problem with him when he was a Tiger.
That changed when he went to the Asstros and became an unrepentant cheater.
Guess the Asstros and their clueless fan base are happy that they aren’t hearing boos at the moment.
Calm down dude
I am sure Kate will help him heal 😉
She’s probably the reason he’s in this mess to begin with LOL
@dirtbag, you win today sir
ahahaha…nice!
she was great with me…..
That was probably most inevitable comment of the day. Way to go.
You means the all knowing Kate who bashed the winner of the 2016 Cy Young, because it was not her man. Her rant was pretty low.
I tried to miss work for groin
Stiffness but my boss made me come to work anyway ;/
I’m sure Kate injured him and will heal him and hurt him again
Just here for the Kate Upton/Sex joke!
I hope he returns well enough to rebuild his image. However, in order to truly do so (although not completely) I believe he’ll not only need to win another WS (without cheating of course), but do so on a team other than the Astros.
He could win a WS with the Astros again, and it would rebuild his image just fine. They “don’t cheat” now.
It’s hard to believe a group that cheated later saying “well, this ONE guy didnt” or “we’re clean now”…
Wait and see with a huge level of scrutiny.
Have you ever heard about this team called the New England Patriots?
I really like Verlander, and aside from Mike Minor, he’s been my favorite pitcher or a while. I hope he gets better over the dead period, and then only allows runs against the Rangers!
I like the way you think.
You might want to rephrase that though.
Verlander is a hypocritical piece of trash.
Calm your face down buddy
Lol in times like these he can break his arm for funsies and still be healed by the time baseball comes back.
The Astros are actually benefiting from this shutdown. Fans were ready to destroy them on opening day. By the time the season starts, everyone will be so happy that baseball is being played that their Astros hate (while still there) will be toned down significantly.
Exactly what I posted before about Verlander but many many goats refuse to listen to my previous post about how Verlander was scamming everyone with downplaying his injury. Now it turns out indeed he was shysterrising.
I guess if you have enough money your elective surgery becomes critical surgery. Thought all elective surgeries were cancelled.
Verlander has always been a class act, he may be quiet about 17 because he got there in August. Unlike a lot of POSs we isn’t throwing teammates under the bus. I bet most of the complaining comes from people who would.
Yeah, because finding out about it was the real problem, huh?
too much banging…. the trashcan
Hey! Kate’s not a….. oh, wait! You mean….. ah, I get it
Bang! Buzz! Karma.
That same coment is getting old Sealbeach.
Get used to it prov356
That’s the problem Seal, I have gotten sed to it
That’s the problem Seal, I have gotten used to it and it’s boring and redundant.
Get used to it prov356
You could say the same thing for the Yanks if you’re talking ‘karma’ about almost any other topic.
If i was in bed with kate upton every night i would want my groin to be in perfect condition…
You mean you wouldn’t want your groin pulled?
The new normal for Verlander. He’s got a lot of miles.
Don’t mean to be trite but the Pandemic might be the best thing for the Asterisk’s since, well….2017
Let’s just all hope we can keep joking because the virus comes under control. Nasty little bug doing a lot of damage out there, and we can’t wait to see it fading away in the rear view