The Astros announced their Wild Card Series roster this morning, and it does not include struggling veteran Justin Verlander. Houston is carrying a slate of 15 position players, including three catchers, and 11 pitchers for their date with the upstart Tigers.
Verlander, 41, missed a substantial portion of the season due to shoulder and neck injuries. Houston reinstated him from the injured list in late August after an absence of more than two months owing to said neck issues, and while he was solid in his return effort (two runs in five innings versus the Red Sox), his season quickly snowballed thereafter. The three-time Cy Young winner and future Hall of Famer was torched for a catastrophic 8.89 ERA over his final six starts, which included individual games that saw him yield four, five, six and eight runs. Manager Joe Espada tells the Astros beat that the conversation with Verlander was “very easy,” crediting him for being “a true pro” about the decision (X link via Brian McTaggart of MLB.com).
One notable return to the lineup, however, is Yordan Alvarez. The Houston slugger has been out of action for more than a week due to a sprained knee, but he’s in the lineup hitting second and serving as Houston’s designated hitter. Espada tells the Astros beat that Alvarez is not 100% and isn’t likely to run at full speed or slide (X link via Chandler Rome of The Athletic). Still, Alvarez’s game-changing power and general excellence at the plate — he hit .308/.392/.567 with 35 homers in 147 games — are enough that the ’Stros will live with those shortcomings to get his bat into the order.
The Astros are sending Framber Valdez to the mound to start Game 1 opposite Tigers ace Tarik Skubal. They’ve yet to announce the second and third starters for the potential three-game set. Starters Yusei Kikuchi, Hunter Brown, Ronel Blanco and Spencer Arrighetti are all on the playoff roster, as are relievers Bryan Abreu, Caleb Ferguson, Josh Hader, Bryan King, Hector Neris and Ryan Pressly.
On the position player side of things, the ’Stros are going with catchers Victor Caratini, Yainer Diaz and Cesar Salazar; infielders Jose Altuve, Alex Bregman, Zach Dezenzo, Mauricio Dubon, Grae Kessinger, Jeremy Pena and Jon Singleton; and outfielders Jason Heyward, Chas McCormick, Jake Meyers and Kyle Tucker. Alvarez, listed as an outfielder, seems quite likely to serve as the DH for this series at least, given the physical limitations outlined by Espada.
Father Time?
@Laseball Biker
If it was anyone other than Verlander, I’d agree with you. He’s stated, repeatedly, that he wants to pitch until he’s 45. Wonder whether he tried to return a little early this time. As an A’s fan I don’t much like Houston, (but a good atmosphere in the park when I went this year) but I admire Verlander. Good luck to him. Hope the A’s batter him in Sacramento next year, but I have to applaud his many many achievements…
A lot of ink has been written abt A’s playoff futility, but it was legit Verlander, Placido Polanco and Magglio Ordonez pretty much by themselves.
Turn out the lights the party’s over. Ahahaha!
Not a surprise. Yordan Alvarez’s presence in the lineup and on the WC roster is much more headline worthy.
Agreed that Yordan is the bigger news. So why does this article lead with Verlander? Baseball fans are probably feeling eager to learn Yordan’s status, while baseball fans know Verlander performed worse than Astros’ other pitching options. What factors by the writer influenced Verlander as the headline? What demographic of TR reading audience wanted Verlander news above Yordan? Casual fan? ESPN yesterday said Ohtani, Judge, Soto are top 3 offensive players. They discussed if Yordan is 4 or 5. Verlander is bad this year
Although folks like us realize Yordan’s value, there are more clicks with Verlander.
JV should consider a Smoltz/Eckersley type end to his career.
breathe: Probably led with JV because he’s a no-doubt future HOFer. But I think Yordan is as well.
For the record, ESPN’s headline leads with Yordan and includes JV. This headline is 100% JV
So Scherzer and Verlander are absent from the 2024 Playoffs (at least the WC roster for Verlander, who could later be added, if advancing) watching Luisangel Acuna and the Mets.
Almost poetic.
Most likely, he will be on the roster
One of my favorite things about the Astros since 2015 is the smart baseball element, and the actually informative pressers from manager, gm, etc ove the years, particularly, Luhnow, Click, and AJ Hinch. Here’s Hinch yesterday, on Framber, and it’s not just auto-respond baseball blather :
“When he broke in, you could see the stuff was incredible,” Hinch said. “You could see the unique movement, the hard breaking ball, the durable body and someone who took the mound and tried to attack every hitter. I think it’s hard to predict what guys are going to have that kind of success, but from an ingredients standpoint it was really fun to watch him break into the big leagues and become more and more dominant as he’s gotten more and more in the strike zone and around the strike zone.
“He gets a ton of chase, he gets a ton of soft contact, he has weapons for everybody. He’s been really good against left-handed hitters, not that unexpected given his stuff. I think his world has calmed down around him in terms of his maturity competitively, pitching on the big stage. He’s pitched as important of games as anybody in that room.”
Rosters reset every series and they only need three starters for the WC series at most. Even so, I wouldn’t be surprised to see him left off the ALDS roster if they make it.
His time is maybe up. Thanks for the memories, J-Ver.
First ballot Hall of Famer
Got a feeling that Skubal stuffs the Astros in game one and Hinch cobbles together enough pitching to win another game. We’ll see.
well Casey, I sure hope your feels are not accurate – I LOVE Hinch, and want Tigers to do well….just not against us 🙂
My personal preference is for an 8th consecutive ALCS. I would not mind a 5th pennant in 8 years, and would not object to a 3rd WS championship.
Go to Vegas….NOW
We have several guys in our lineup who hit very well against skubal this season. I expect him to go either 6 innings 4 runs or 6 innings 2 runs. Thats what he did against us this year. The Tigers are a great story and are very capable of beating us. But i believe we are simply too much for them
Well, Verlander still be there as a leader and motivator….
Nope, none of the Gen Z interested in grandpa readass complaining
Him and Maeda can sit together. I’m glad Detroit can keep all 14 of its hitters !
A shame that Maeda doesn’t like being a reliever, he was a weapon for the Dodgers when they got to the postseason.
Though who knows if that would still be true at this stage of his career. Because he’s definitely not the starter he was back then, either
Howdy Doody!
Detroit hitters is an oxymoron !
So is smart cooperhill
Does anyone know if Kessinger is related to Don Kessinger, cubs SS in the ’60s or ’70s or whatever?
Yeah, actually. Grandson
Grandfather
grandson of Don
More importantly, is he related to Dom Kessinger, or Dom Deluise?
Same # of hits this season as his grandson
Get ready for the Hall, and enjoy your retirement !
Would he somewhat poetic for the team he came up with eliminating his current team from the playoffs and then he ends up retiring this winter.
Well, you got the first part right !
That shot of Verlander on the bench watching the Tigers celebrate in Houston’s ballpark. I can imagine how he felt. I really do think he’s going to call it a career.
Heck, Verlander could have gotten us down 3 zip in two innings…
A shame he’s not pitching Game 2, then.
Absolutely worth every penny of the 43 million dollars he got paid this year
And thanks to the Mets for covering $26M of that.
Wow ! All that money n when u need em most.
he done
One less readass and deebag in the clubhouse it would seem