Justin Verlander “felt strong” during a bullpen session today in Houston, Astros manager Joe Espada told reporters (including Matt Kawahara of the Houston Chronicle), which should line Verlander up to return to the rotation on Wednesday when the Astros face the Red Sox. A neck strain has kept Verlander from pitching in the majors since June 9, and he has amassed only 57 innings this season due both this current ailment and a bout of shoulder inflammation coming out of Spring Training. However, Verlander has completed two minor league rehab outings and today’s bullpen session looks like the final checkpoint on his path to recovery.
While things are looking promising for Verlander, Luis Garcia is more of a question mark. The Athletic’s Chandler Rome wrote (via X) that as of Friday, Garcia hadn’t yet resumed throwing since he was shut down due to soreness over two weeks ago. This is the second time Garcia has hit a setback in his recovery from Tommy John surgery, and since Garcia went under the knife in May 2023, a normal rehab timeline would’ve had him ready to return to the majors by this point over 15 months past his procedure date. Though the Astros have said Garcia might return as a reliever rather than as a starter, he is running short on time to fully ramp up his readiness to rejoin Houston’s pitching staff in any capacity.
More from around the American League…
- Twins athletic trainer Nick Paparesta updated reporters (including The Athletic’s Dan Hayes) about several injured Minnesota players on Saturday, including Byron Buxton and Chris Paddack. Buxton received a cortisone shot in his inflamed right hip and recently worked out in a pool, so Paparesta feels “we’re kind of heading in the right direction.” This comes as a relief given Buxton’s long history of injury problems, including a more serious hip issue in 2022 that Paparesta feels may have created scar tissue related to Buxton’s current discomfort. As for Paddack, he is set to undergo an MRI on August 27, which will be his second scan since a left forearm strain sent him to the 15-day injured list on July 17. More will be known on Paddack’s timeline if the next MRI comes back clean, and he has already started playing games of catch in preparation to return to Minnesota’s staff before the season is over.
- Three of the Rangers’ injured veteran starters took steps in their recoveries over the weekend, as Max Scherzer threw a bullpen session today and Jacob deGrom and Jon Gray each threw three-inning simulated games on Saturday. Gray seems to be the closest to returning, as he told MLB.com that he could return as a reliever during the Rangers’ series with the Pirates that begins tomorrow, if he isn’t lined up for a proper start during a series with the Guardians that gets underway Friday. A right groin strain sent Gray to the 15-day IL on July 29, while deGrom could begin a Double-A rehab assignment this week in his first game action since undergoing Tommy John surgery in June 2023. Scherzer hasn’t pitched since July 30 due to shoulder fatigue, and Texas manager Bruce Bochy said it hasn’t yet been decided if Scherzer will also embark on a rehab assignment next, or if he’ll first take part in a live batting practice session.
- Tarik Skubal had another quality start tonight in the Tigers’ 3-2 win over the Yankees, as the star southpaw limited New York to one run (on three hits and four walks) over six innings of work. Skubal is up to a career-high 155 1/3 innings pitched, and manager A.J. Hinch told MLB Network’s Jon Morosi and other reporters that Sunday “could very well be his last start on regular rest” this season. Since Detroit is all but out of the wild card race, the team has no real reason to put too many extra miles on Skubal’s arm, though naturally the team isn’t going to shut him down completely as he pursues the AL Cy Young Award.
Once again Holmes F ups a game for the Yankees. The Yankees will never learn. I hope he’s not brought back this off season. IMO Houston and Cleveland are favored in the AL because of Hader and Clase. I don’t trust Holmes or Kimbrel.
I doubt they’re resigning Holmes. Leiter hasn’t worked out either. They’ll trade for a strikeout closer in the offseason.
Might be able to get Helsley from St. Louis if they miss the playoffs and sell
Devin Williams….
What if Chapman returned to New York
That would create a clubhouse disaster
I highly doubt either parties want a reunion.
Pittsburgh is just a few veterans away from being really good, I don’t think they trade Chapman. They got their Ace in Skenes, a shut down closer, a SS with superstar potential, a fringe all-star in the outfield…..Pirates will actually be interesting next year
I mean it’s still possible bucs should be cutting the cord soon and someone will take the rest of his contract….
Devin Williams is getting traded this off season. Dunno how the 2 teams would line up for a trade though.
Kimbrel already lost his job.
In the case of Kimbrel, Sir Anthony has picked up the slack nicely for the O’s. I still like them as a series favorite.
Sure Lock Holmes? Maybe if you score more than one run, on a wild pitch no less, you get the win anyway? Granted they were facing Skubal Dew, the amped up big dog, but still. For $300 million can’t you hit better than little leaguers?
Ruh roh, not in first by themselves any more. Probably because Cora lost on purpose to the Orioles. Or something.
Also O’s own the tiebreaker over the Stanks so really, they aren’t sharing first place.
Hader the hater, can’t stand the punk!
Man if they let skubal go too hard and he gets TJ then that would get hinch on the hot seat
How did hinch even get an extension? He hasn’t done anything special in Detroit
I guess they should just cancel the rest of their games because all of their players might get seriously injured playing.
Are you Six-Hopper from the now defunct MLB Tigers message board? You sure sound like him. I used to be Mr. Wert.
Who does Detroit build their future around if they trade Skubal? They are a .500 team, it only takes 88-90 wins to make the playoffs most years. It’s not a tear down job in Detroit, their bullpen is pretty nice. They need some power hitting, and getting off of Baez would be nice.
Fetter is probably the best pitching coach in baseball and Hinch is a good manager. Stop spitting venom so much Colavito.
While the Tigers, literally, have just one legitimate starting pitcher on this staff (Montero is on a little run, but let’s wait and see if he can sustain it) I think what Hinch and Fetter have done to keep this team competitive on the mound is nothing short of miraculous. They just held the Yankees to 5 runs over 3 days and Settle to just 4 over their 3 game set. Senor Smoke really has a bee in his bonnet over Hinch and his staff. He sounds bitter and angry about something. The Tiger’s problems are not Hinch. He’s one of the best in the business.
I guess no other pitching staff has suffered injuries this year, just Detroit’s.
Hinchs’ infield shifts are horrendous and have cost runs and games.
Maeda. Perfect example. Maeda pitches to contact. He will get a batter to hit directly to second or ss. That’s what he does.
Doesn’t work to well, when the second baseman is shifted up the middle or vv.
Check it out. Review the games. It is true.
Not just Maeda. Review those one run games.
See the right side of the field wide open. Any real baseball player will just put one through the hole….real baseball, old style baseball, not this gotta swing for the fences chitling.
I like Hinch. Critical analysis is helpful and allows for perfection.
In todays world, the man who.suggested a 4 or 8 cylinder vehicle, would.be crucified for ” insulting” thengreat Henry Fords’ 2 cylinder vehicle.
Arse kissing is bad for planet Earth and bad for baseball, bad for the Tigers!
Senor, we all know that you’re Colavito, so why pretend otherwise?
“Beach bozo gossip” has to be one of your best insults yet. Keep it between the lines so you don’t get banned again, which I am assuming is why you had to change your username. .
I enjoy reading your posts about baseball, right up until you go off road right and insult everyone who has an opinion contrary to your own. You are right when you say above that it’s an opinion board. Not just for you but for the rest of us too.
You and Fetter have something in common I think as you noted above and it’s not being an MLB pitching coach!
Hopefully you eat a Snickers and come back less hangry on the next Tigers post.
I’m not even sure who you are responding to anymore since you have managed to argue and insult almost everyone on this post. Unless you are recycling verbatim quotes from Colavitos old posts like a copycat, we are all positive that’s who you are. And why get so bent out of shape about it? No one cares!
Not sure who “attacked” you last week as you say or what they said, but when you insult everyone on here what do you expect?
Post about baseball. You seem to know a bit about it from what I’ve read. I’ve given up on suggesting you respect others opinions.
Keep talking to yourself then. I’ve noticed you are your own biggest fan Colavito.
What is the theory? One tap fastball, two taps offspeed?
It would make sense if you said that in the first place while my Astros joke was tremendous and way over your head. Then you’ll say it’s not funny to hide the fact that you’re about to be laughed at for missing another point.
Luke A, I presume. Glad to see you haven’t mellowed.
Lol, glad to see you are still passionate about the Tigers.
We are all aware you have no idea.
Lol. Dumb take. Just like everything you post. No facts. Just anger
Yes, something is bothering SS and he comes here to vent.
Pretending to be insiders at Comerica Park. You would be the President of that club dude.
Your beer league team doesn’t count as baseball Colavito 😉
By the time the Tigers are ready Skubal could be a FA or TJ. Then what? You start all over again. The ace pitcher is not what you think it is. They could have gotten what the fish got for Rodgers plus Mayo or Basallo. Then do what KC did get a couple vets and tinker with the. Tada journeyman to Allstars pitchers.
Think about it. Average starters are throwing 5.25 innings per start. So that every 20 games is about 70-72 innings. Aces pitch 6 innings. Over 20 games that is 24-25 innings. So for the sake of argument your bullpen pitches 3 times the innings as starters. Late innings are generally higher leverage too.
What is the difference between an ace and an inning eating mediocre back end starter? 1 run per game.
Pitcher A 30 starts 185 innings 3 ERA
Pitcher B 30 starts 175 innings 4.5 ERA
Are you saying that the greatest sports franchise in the history of the universe is spending $90 million dollars on their rotation foolishly???
But they used to spend lavishly on their legendary bullpens with nothing to show for it.
What are they supposed to do? Boonedoggle and the Cash Man and the Steingrabbers need to know!
Otherwise they’re just an expensive overpriced franchise taking up space in America’s pastime.
This math doesn’t make sense. In what way are relievers pitching 3 times the innings as starters? That would be more than 6 innings per game from the bullpen.
And I’m not sure if you’re explaining the 5.25 vs 6 innings per start poorly but those numbers don’t add up either.
Yes, the math. I’ve thought about a bullpen throwing 600 innings per year. The best relievers go into the postseason at about 65 innings. If a team wants to go deep, those are the relievers you need to be effective. Overuse during the season leads to ineffectiveness in the postseason. Tougher competition with higher stress is a recipe best left to the well rested bullpen chef.
Most teams need 6 or 7 starters to get through the year. Maybe 3 of them will actually qualify for ERA (162 innings). Again, don’t burn those top 3 out if you want to go deep.
You really need a few multi-inning relievers. Those guys maybe throw 80-100 innings, hopefully one or two of them are effective for use in the postseason. Again, don’t overuse your effective guys.
The best teams lose 60 or so games. The real important part of that is using the right guys over those 500-600 innings. This is where you throw guys who won’t be on your postseason roster or will see limited action in the postseason. Back of the rotation starters, bullpen filler, mostly what people refer to as dumpster dive pitchers. The funny thing is that these guys absolutely help your team win championships! A LOT.
The best way to succeed in winning championships is to not burn out your best pitchers trying to win as many games as possible! It’s a fool’s gold to think that being able to play games in your stadium is an advantage when you’ve toasted your pitchers to utter uselessness. It just allows your fans to witness your humiliation.
The Yankees need Schmidt back ASAP and make Gil the closer.
Sure Lock Holmes, Dream Weaver and Tonkin Bay have all been overused, so failure is to be expected. Gil Toe will wear out soon, way too many innings for the youngster. Cortex, Rodent, Straw Man, Old Man Cole? All destined for the scrap heap. Messerschmidt will crash land. But there are reinforcements coming: Kick the Kahnle, Kissing Cousins, Cigarette Leiter, Tim Over the Hill, Will Warren Commission, Ian Burr it’s cold outside Hamilton, A Mayza Grace. Marinaccio Cherries, and many more.
Well, that was fun.
I like nicknames Too! But you are the king of them. it takes me a few minutes to figure out most of them. A very long timeline.
You must been in advertising. People always steal or use your ideas. That is why they need to have a thick skin and at least one good lawyer!
There should be a conditional draft pick awarded between the 2nd & 3rd rounds for the team with the Cy Young Award winner, to incentivize teams that are out of the playoff picture. 2nd place finish gets a conditional pick after round 3 and 3rd place finisher gets a pick after round 5.
When can the Astros save money and tell Verlander to retire and go to his HOF placement. He is stealing money at this point in his career. Al least Texas can tell Mat Scherzer to take the same Hike with no further payout
Senor Smoke
Ausmus: 2016
Cabrera 38 HR, .316 BA, .393 OBP
Kinsler 28 HR, .288 BA, .348 OBP
Castellanos 18 HR, .285 BA, .331 OBP
Upton 31 HR, .246 BA, .310 OBP
J.D. Martinez 22HR, .307 BA, .373 OBP
V. Martinez 27 HR, .289 BA, .351 OBP
Senor Smoke
Ausmus 2014:
Cabrera 25 HR, .313 BA, .371 OBP
Kinsler 17 HR, .275 BA, .307 OBP
J.D. Martinez 23 HR, .315 BA, .358 OBP
Jackson 4 HR, .273 BA, .332 OBP
Hunter 17 HR, .286 BA, .319 OBP
V. Martinez 32 HR, .335 BA, .409 OBP
Ummm….look at the players Ausmus had compared to Hinch. I would’ve won MORE games than Ausmus with the roster he had. Ausmus was the worst Tiger manager since Ralph, anybody would’ve won the pennant managing the ’61-’63 Yankees, Houk.
Senor Smoke
This team will have a winning record before the end of the month.
Joey Cora is a way better manager than Ausmus too. And if you want to talk about players who didn’t respect their manager you can look at that Tiber team the last year of Ausmus’s reign. Ausmus never had his player’s backs. Other teams used to humiliate the Tigers. Umpires disrespected the team too and Ausmus never put up a fight for his team.
Well,.this IS pretty much the lineup we’ve all been waiting to test drive in Detroit?
Yes or No?
You sure can be “as combative as you need to be”…with every single poster on here. It’s okay for you to call people names and insult them but not for anyone to do the same to you? No one is quoting you thats just something you made up in your own narcissistic little head. Take your meds dude and chill out.
I like Verlander and I hope he can get 300 wins (starting after he loses to the Sox this week). It’s probably going to take him three more full seasons to get there, and he’ll probably need to take a significant pay cut. I hope he’s the kind of competitor that won’t balk at that at this stage in his career. He got his record setting money, and his kids will never need to work if he’s smart with it. Hopefully he’ll play ball now just for the sake of playing ball.
JV is a lock for the HOF. Doubt he’ll get 300 – not many will anymore – but he won’t need it. That would be cool if he came back to the Tigs for a WS run or 2. Don’t think the Tigs make it next year, but ’26 is realistic. I could even see JV as closer – a la Smoltz late in his career.
Good move by Braves. Gio is solid defender at 3B. All he needs to do is play good D and get a hit or 2 in the playoffs.
You are draining sometimes dude, but I do get a kick out of your creative insults. Cheers
Why isn’t Ausmus managing anymore? I guess he’d rather be a bench coach?
I’m 54 so we go together nicely.
Mildly entertaining dude 😉