This season hasn’t gone as hoped for the reigning American League champion Astros, who have started 22-21 while dealing with several notable injuries. They have gone nearly the entire campaign without 2019 AL Cy Young winner Justin Verlander, who made one start in July and has been out since with a forearm strain, but it seems there is hope the right-hander will return this year. Manager Dusty Baker told Jake Kaplan of The Athletic and other reporters that Verlander was in line for a 50- to 55-pitch bullpen session Wednesday.
It remains to be seen whether Verlander will get through the session without setbacks, but it’s nonetheless encouraging that he has progressed to this point. Should he get through it unscathed, Verlander could be close to rejoining the Astros, who would make the playoffs if the season ended now.
Thankfully for Verlander-less Houston, Framber Valdez has established himself as a solid starter this year, which has helped complement Zack Greinke in their staff and make up for the loss of Verlander to a degree. Rookie Cristian Javier has stopped runs at a good rate (3.46 ERA over 41 2/3 innings), meanwhile, but his peripherals aren’t as encouraging. And though the Astros did just get back Jose Urquidy back from the injured list, they had to place Lance McCullers Jr. on the IL on Sept. 6 with neck issues. So, while the Astros would be thrilled to welcome a healthy and effective Verlander back under any circumstance, he may be especially helpful in the next few weeks.
BANG
Who would’ve expected that helping bang the cans was such a big part of his strength and conditioning and, without it, injury would result?
Despite being a playoff team at the moment, with a record just above .500 the Astros must feel a little bit like this season is in the trash can
That’s actually way better than most around here. Credit to you.
Remember when all you tigers fan last yr said Boyd’s the next best thing? How he was so great ? LMAO. Told y’all he’s garbage. 7.41 era hehehe
I’m sure the Astros are just waiting to crystallize the new cheating scheme so JV has ample run support for his return. We’ve seen you guys without the schemes, .500.
No, I remember most people saying that Boyd was not the next big thing.
Great wife though
She’s my Upton girl and she’s living in an Upton world.
Cue the cat daddy video
If she took better care of her man though he wouldn’t be on the IL with forearm strain?
id give her the best 15 seconds of her life ( counting foreplay).. doesnt she come from a well know family and has more money than him?
I fact checked on myself..her grandfather co-founded whirlpool..i knew she came from money.just wasn’t sure where
Happy to see him back Not an Astros fan for obvious reasons but dont want to see any player out through injury. Astros LA series match up would be “interesting”
The fact that the Astros are where they are with all these rookies shows that they’re still the most dominant team in the AL
Hovering around .500?
The AL Central is the toughest division in the AL. When did anyone think this would happen? DET & KC are very competitive while CHI, MIN & CLE are fighting for the best record in the AL. What a crazy year!
Married to a supermodel 5 yrs younger than him..if he is forced to retire I’d say he still won..
This season hasn’t gone as hoped for the Astros? Gee, I wonder why? Everyone except for very biased Astros fans who are ignoring reality understands the reason. Quite frankly, this season has been easy for them considering they haven’t had to deal with fans in the stands.