Twins Rumors

AL Notes: Buxton, Correa, Lorenzen, Cortes

By Mark Polishuk | September 8, 2024 at 11:23pm CDT

Byron Buxton was feeling discomfort in his hip as recently as Wednesday, and Betsy Helfand of the St. Paul Pioneer Press writes that this setback scuttled the Twins’ plans for Buxton to begin a minor league rehab assignment this weekend. Right hip inflammation has kept Buxton on the injured list since the middle of August, depriving the Twins lineup of a big bat with 16 homers and a .275/.334/.528 slash line over 335 plate appearances. While Minnesota has dealt with a number of injuries this season, losing Buxton seems to have been a particular blow to the roster, as the Twins are only 6-14 over their last 20 games.

Reinforcements are needed, yet there’s no word on when either Buxton or Carlos Correa might be able to start a rehab assignment, as manager Rocco Baldelli told Helfand and other reporters today. Correa hasn’t played since July 12 due to plantar fasciitis in his right foot, and the shortstop has been feeling good while taking part in running drills. This is “some level of significant, but we still have a ways to go,” Baldelli said. “We’ll see if we can build on that and keep moving in a positive direction.”

Some other items from around the American League….

While Minnesota is struggling, the Royals rebounded from a seven-game losing streak with a three-game sweep of the Twins this weekend. Kansas City is also getting healthier, as manager Matt Quartaro told MLB.com’s Anne Rogers and other reporters that Michael Lorenzen is slated to begin a minor league rehab assignment on Tuesday. Lorezen was placed on the 15-day IL on August 28 due to a left hamstring strain, so the right-hander looks like he shouldn’t miss much time beyond the 15-day minimum. Acquired from the Rangers in a deadline trade, Lorenzen had great results in his first five starts as a Royal, delivering a 1.85 ERA in 24 1/3 innings.
The returns of Luis Gil and Clarke Schmidt gave the Yankees a rotation surplus, relegating Nestor Cortes to a relief role as a piggyback pitcher behind Schmidt on Saturday. “I’m never going to leave my teammates out to dry. You’re always going to get my best effort, no matter if I’m happy or not,” Cortes told ESPN and other media, yet the left-hander also made it clear that he was “upset” over the role change. “I felt like I’ve been, amongst all the starters, the workhorse here,” Cortes said. “Once [Gerrit] Cole went down, they picked me to be the Opening Day starter — not necessarily the No. 1, but the Opening Day starter. I had to switch my routine there. Now they do this.” After an injury-plagued 2023 season, Cortes has a 3.97 ERA over 163 1/3 innings this year, with an unimpressive set of Statcast metrics except for an excellent walk rate. Cortes will return to starting duty when the Yankees adopt a six-man staff for the next turn through the rotation, yet it remains to be seen how New York deploys Cortes, Cole, Gil, Schmidt, Carlos Rodon, and Marcus Stroman for the remainder of the regular season and into the playoffs.

Twins Place Max Kepler On Injured List, Select DaShawn Keirsey Jr.

By Steve Adams | September 5, 2024 at 11:13am CDT

The Twins have placed right fielder Max Kepler on the 10-day injured list with patellar tendinitis in his left knee and selected the contract of outfielder DaShawn Keirsey Jr. from Triple-A St. Paul, per a team announcement. Left-hander Kody Funderburk was transferred to the 60-day injured list to open a spot on the 40-man roster for Keirsey, who’ll be making his MLB debut when he first gets into a game.

Kepler, 31, came out of the All-Star break on a tear, hitting .316/.357/.468 in 84 plate appearances and boosting his season line to .271/.320/.412 in the process. Coupled with his strong defense in right field, he looked to be on his way to another solid all-around season. He’s since fallen into a dreadful swoon at the plate, however, tallying just one hit in his past 17 plate appearances and batting only .116/.156/.140 in his last 45 turns at the dish. He’s been in and out of the lineup while trying to play through discomfort in his problematic knee, but after sitting out the past four contests, he’ll now head to the injured list and hope some down time will get him back to full strength.

It’s an ill-timed injury for Kepler, both in the team sense — the Twins are a very likely Wild Card club but still hoping to chase down the division-leading Guardians — and in a personal sense. He’s in the final season of an extension signed prior to the 2019 season. That deal guaranteed him $35MM over five seasons and grew to a six-year, $44MM deal when the Twins picked up a 2024 option on him after a strong 2023 season. He’s now on the cusp of reaching free agency for the first time. Kepler had already seen his output take a step back from last year’s .260/.332/.484 slash (124 wRC+) and 24 homers, but after this recent lull at the plate his season-long batting line has wilted to a sub-par .253/.302/.380.

Taking Kepler’s place on the active roster will be the 27-year-old Keirsey. The Twins selected him with their fourth-round pick back in 2018. He’s old to be considered a true “prospect” and was passed over in last year’s Rule 5 Draft even after hitting a combined .294/.366/.455 between Double-A and Triple-A in 2023. The Twins are surely glad to have been able to hang onto him, as Keirsey now climbs to the majors after an impressive season that’s seen him produce a .292/.364/.477 slash in St. Paul. He’s connected on 14 home runs and swiped 36 bags in 43 attempts.

In scouting reports over the years, Keirsey has drawn praise for plus speed and athleticism. He’s seen as a viable center fielder and plus option in the corners. Scouts have questioned his hit tool, particularly after he fanned in 30% of his High-A plate appearances in 2021, but he’s trimmed that mark down to a more passable 23% in each of the past three seasons (22.8% in 2024).

If nothing else, Keirsey has the makings of a quality fourth outfielder who can be optioned back and forth between St. Paul and Minneapolis over the next few years, but he’s now had back-to-back productive seasons in the upper minors and could be something of a late-bloomer. He’ll add to a growing stock of lefty-hitting Twins outfielders on the 40-man roster. Even with Kepler set to hit free agency, the Twins have Matt Wallner, Trevor Larnach, Alex Kirilloff and top prospect Emmanuel Rodriguez all on the 40-man roster, to say nothing of center fielder Byron Buxton and infielder/outfielder Austin Martin, who hit from the other side of the plate.

Trevor Richards, Caleb Boushley Accept Outright Assignments With Twins

By Steve Adams | September 4, 2024 at 10:18am CDT

Right-handers Trevor Richards and Caleb Boushley both passed through waivers unclaimed following their recent DFAs by the Twins, tweets Bobby Nightengale of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune. Either could’ve rejected an outright assignment to the minors, but they’ve accepted assignments to the Twins’ Triple-A affiliate in St. Paul.

Richards, 31, was the Twins’ lone pickup at this summer’s trade deadline. The right-hander tossed scoreless outings in seven of his 10 relief appearances as a Twin and posted a respectable, if unspectacular 4.15 ERA in 13 innings overall. However, Richards also walked 11 of the 59 batters he faced following the trade (18.6%), plunked another pair of hitters and unleashed a staggering seven wild pitches in his 13 frames with Minnesota. The command woes were glaring enough that Minnesota opted to put him on waivers.

While Richards could’ve rejected the outright and retained his salary because he has more than five years of major league service, the timing of his DFA might’ve made it hard to latch on with another club. He’s a free agent at season’s end, so non-contending clubs would have little reason to bring him in for just a few weeks. Contending clubs who feel they might be able to get him back on track with a few tweaks on a minor league deal also would’ve likely passed, as even if that proved true, Richards would’ve been ineligible for a new club’s postseason roster. As such, he’ll head to St. Paul and hope to get back on track and pitch his way into a late look with the Twins. Failing that, he’ll become a free agent when the season draws to a close.

Boushley, 30, is a depth arm who inked a minor league deal with Minnesota over the winter and has twice been selected to the big league roster this season. He’s passed through waivers both times and remained with the organization’s top affiliate in St. Paul. Boushley has pitched four innings with the Twins and allowed a pair of runs on six hits and two walks with one strikeout. He’s spent most of the season in the Saints’ rotation, pitching to a 4.97 ERA in 22 starts and 116 innings at the Triple-A level.

Twins Reportedly Considering Moving Royce Lewis To Second Base

By Nick Deeds | September 2, 2024 at 11:53am CDT

Twins infielder Royce Lewis made his first career appearance at second base yesterday, fielding three innings of work at the position during the club’s win over the Blue Jays. According to a report from Aaron Gleeman of The Athletic, that could be the start of what becomes a more permanent move to the keystone as the club ponders Lewis’s defensive future.

Lewis is among the league’s most impressive young hitters, although he’s been hampered by injuries to this point in his career. The first overall pick of the 2017 draft has been nothing short of electric at the plate when healthy enough to play throughout his time in the majors, with a .286/.345/.552 (146 wRC+) slash line since his debut back in 2022. He’s done more of the same so far this season, as he’s slashed an excellent .259/.322/.557 (140 wRC+) in 227 trips to the plate between stints on the injured list due to quad and hip injuries. Among hitters with at least 200 plate appearances this year, Lewis’s .299 isolated slugging percentage ranks fifth in the majors behind only Aaron Judge, Shohei Ohtani, Kyle Tucker, and Kerry Carpenter.

Despite possessing one of the league’s most potent bats, however, Lewis’s glove stands out as a serious question mark. While Statcast’s Outs Above Average metric has generally looked upon his work at the hot corner somewhat favorably (+2 OAA at the position for his career), Fielding Bible’s Defensive Runs Saved has been less kind with a -2 DRS in just 35 games at the position this year. Advanced defensive metrics require much larger sample sizes to stabilize than the 700 innings Lewis has posted a third base so far in his career, but the eye test and traditional defensive stats aren’t particularly forgiving regarding the 25-year-old’s performance either.

Lewis has committed 11 errors in 84 games at the hot corner, ten of which have been throwing errors. That’s a worrying total at a position that prioritizes the fielder’s arm as much as third base does, and even regulars at the hot corner who are generally regarded as below average defenders like Rafael Devers and Austin Riley don’t commit throwing errors at a clip that elevated. By comparison, Devers has committed 11 total throwing errors at third base since the start of the 2023 season, while Riley has committed that same number since the start of the 2022 campaign. That volume of errors comes in sample sizes of more than 2,000 and 3,000 innings respectively, figures which both dwarf Lewis’s innings total at the position.

Given Lewis’s lackluster throwing ability, it’s perhaps no surprise that the club would consider moving him to the keystone. According to Gleeman, Lewis has been taking regular practice reps at second base recently prior to yesterday’s in-game debut at the position, and club officials are currently “evaluating” whether to use Lewis at second or third base in the long term. Currently, the club is without shortstop Carlos Correa due to plantar fasciitis and is relying on a patchwork infield while mixing and matching between Lewis, Brooks Lee, Willi Castro, Jose Miranda, and Edouard Julien. Once Correa returns to reclaim the shortstop job, however, Gleeman suggests that the Twins plan to install Lewis and Lee as their long-term answers on either side of him and simply haven’t decided which position which player will play.

Lee is regarded as a stronger defender compared to Lewis and figures to profile as the superior defensive option at both positions. Gleeman notes in particular that Lee’s superior throwing arm could make him a “more natural” fit at the hot corner, but also suggests that Lewis is “somewhat apprehensive” about learning the new position on the fly. Of course, those concerns likely wouldn’t be a significant factor in the long term, as the Twins could dedicate Lewis to learning his new position during the coming offseason and Spring Training if they decide on the keystone as his long-term defensive home.

Installing either Lee or Lewis at second base would likely spell the end of Julien’s time at the position. The 25-year-old enjoyed a sensational rookie campaign last year as he slashed an excellent .263/.381/.459 in 408 plate appearances as the club’s primary second baseman. He’s a below average defender at the position, however, and his 2024 campaign has left much to be desired offensively as he’s struck out at a 34.7% clip while watching his walk rate dip from 15.7% last year to a somewhat less impressive 12.7% this season. It’s a somewhat similar situation for third baseman Jose Miranda, who lost his regular job in the Twins’ infield with a lackluster offensive performance and is also generally regarded as a below average defender. Looking ahead to 2025, it’s possible that both Julien and Miranda could look to compete with Alex Kirilloff for playing time at first base while also filling in at their respective positions elsewhere on the infield when injuries arise throughout the year.

Twins Select Diego Castillo, Michael Helman; Activate Brooks Lee

By Nick Deeds | September 1, 2024 at 12:23pm CDT

The Twins announced a flurry of roster moves this afternoon as they selected the contracts of right-hander Diego Castillo and utility hitter Michael Helman to the big league roster. The club also placed outfielder Manuel Margot on the 10-day IL and activated infielder Brooks Lee from the 10-day IL. To make room for Castillo and Helman on the 40-man roster, left-hander Caleb Boushley was designated for assignment while right-hander Chris Paddack was transferred to the 60-day IL.

Castillo returns to the Twins for his second stint in the majors this year. The 30-year-old righty signed with Minnesota on a minor league deal over the offseason and was selected to the roster at the end of May. He ultimately made just five appearances for the club before being designated for assignment despite a solid 2.57 ERA thanks to worrying peripherals, highlighted by a 10% strikeout rate and an eye-popping 23.3% walk rate. Castillo elected free agency but returned to the Twins on a fresh minor league deal shortly thereafter, and since then has been pitching for the club’s Triple-A affiliate in St. Paul.

Even so, the results have not been good. While his numbers at Triple-A have been skewed by a disastrous performance where he surrendered five runs while recording just one out last month, he’s still posted a 4.00 ERA with nearly as many walks (6) as strikeouts (7) in nine innings of work since then. While Castillo was among the more reliable late-inning arms in the game from 2018 to 2022 with a 3.12 ERA and 3.69 FIP over that time, it seems extremely unlikely that he’ll be able to recapture that form down the stretch with Minnesota. That being said, his presence on the roster should allow the club to keep its key relief arms like Jhoan Duran and Griffin Jax fresher down the stretch by soaking up lower-leverage innings.

As for Helman, the Twins’ eleventh-round pick in the 2018 draft has steadily worked his way through the minor leagues through his career before starting the season at Triple-A this year and delivering strong results. The 28-year-old has slashed .283/.367/.508 with 13 homers, 15 doubles, and ten steals in just 63 games this year at the level, and he’s done that while splitting time between shortstop, center field, second base, third base, and left field. The versatile defender figures to offer the Twins an interesting combination of power and speed off the bench for the stretch run, and his ability to play all over the field will surely come in handy as the club navigates injuries and rest for its regular players.

Also returning to the majors is Lee, the club’s 23-year-old top prospect who struggled to a somewhat lackluster .253/.309/.333 slash line in 110 trips to the plate at the big league level before going on the IL in early August. Now that he’s back in the majors, Lee figures to feature prominently in the club’s infield mix, though with Royce Lewis locking down third base and Willi Castro performing admirably in place of Carlos Correa at shortstop, it’s not clear whether or not Lee will be able to get regular reps as the Twins look to preserve their 3.5-game lead over the Red Sox for the final AL Wild Card spot.

As for the players moving off the roster to accommodate these additions, Margot’s placement on the IL is hardly a surprise after he suffered an apparent groin strain during last night’s game. After the game, manager Rocco Baldelli told reporters (including Do-Hyoung Park of MLB.com) that the outfielder was “not moving well” due to the issue and would need to undergo an MRI. The results of that MRI are not yet clear, but they evidently warranted a trip to the IL for the 29-year-old outfielder, who has slashed just .250/.302/.350 in 116 games with the club this year.

Meanwhile, Paddack’s placement on the 60-day IL isn’t necessarily a surprise given the fact that he’s already been on the shelf since mid-July due to a forearm strain. A regular season return has long seemed unlikely for the right-hander, but it’s still possible he could return to action at some point in the postseason depending on how far the Twins make it this season. As for Boushley, the lefty has appeared in just two games for the Twins this year after signing a minor league deal with the club over the offseason, pitching to a 4.50 ERA in four innings of work.

Twins Designate Trevor Richards For Assignment

By Steve Adams and Darragh McDonald | August 27, 2024 at 3:50pm CDT

The Twins announced their waiver claim of right-hander Michael Tonkin, which was previously reported. To open a 40-man spot, righty Trevor Richards has been designated for assignment. To take the active spot of Richards, the club has selected the contract of righty Caleb Boushley. To open a 40-man spot for Boushley, righty Joe Ryan has been transferred to the 60-day injured list.

Richards was the Twins’ lone deadline pickup a month ago, coming over from Toronto in exchange for minor league infielder Jay Harry. The right-hander had scoreless outings in seven of his ten appearances with Minnesota but also had three shakier outings, leading to a 4.15 ERA in 13 innings overall.

That may not seem particularly poor at first glance, but Richards walked a massive 18.6% of his opponents during his time with the Twins and even more incredibly uncorked seven wild pitches during those 13 frames. He also hit two batters. Overall, the lack of command he showed proved too alarming for the team to continue on with the right-hander.

Richards has had some big league success in the past, both as a starter (261 2/3 innings of 4.22 ERA ball in 2018-19) and a reliever (3.50 ERA, 31.1 K% in 64 1/3 innings in 2021). However, even though he’s shown a consistent ability to miss bats and regularly flummoxed lefties with a plus changeup, he’s struggled with command and been far too hittable against fellow righties.

Richards came to the Twins as a rental who’d been struggling with his former team, so the cost of acquisition to acquire him was quite low. Still, the Twins surely hoped for better results, particularly given their lack of other deadline additions. Instead, he’ll give way to Tonkin, who’s back for a second 2024 stint with the team that originally drafted him in the 30th round back in 2008. Richards will now hit waivers and presumably clear, as a team would need to be willing to pay the remaining $358K on his $2.15MM salary in order to place a claim.

As for the 30-year-old Boushley, this’ll be his second stint with the Twins this year as well. He pitched two innings and allowed two runs a few months back, but has spent the rest of the season in Triple-A, where he has a 4.97 ERA in 116 innings. That earned run average is skewed in part by a calamitous nine-run shellacking at the hands of the Braves’ Triple-A affiliate back on July 3, but Boushley has been struggling in general as of late. Even setting aside that nine-run bonanza, he’s been tagged for a 6.55 ERA in his past seven starts with the Saints.

Twins Claim Michael Tonkin

By Darragh McDonald | August 27, 2024 at 1:38pm CDT

The Yankees announced that right-hander Michael Tonkin has been claimed off waivers by the Twins. The Yanks had designated him for assignment in recent days. The Twins will need to make a corresponding move to open a 40-man roster spot, as well as an active roster spot once Tonkin reports to the club. Dan Hayes of The Athletic relayed news of the claim on X prior to the official transaction.

Tonkin, 34, was originally a Twins draftee (30th round, 2008) who reached the majors with Minnesota in 2013 but quickly descended into journeyman status. After spending the 2008-17 seasons in the Twins’ system — and pitching in the majors each year from 2013-17 — Tonkin spent the 2018 season with Japan’s Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters. He returned stateside in 2019 and has spent time with the Brewers, D-backs, Braves, Mets and Yankees organizations in addition to stints in the Atlantic League and in the Mexican League.

After a five-year absence, Tonkin returned to the majors with the Braves last year and pitched 80 solid innings out of their bullpen. This season, he’s bounced between the Mets, Yankees and Twins via waivers. This’ll be his second stint of the current season in Minnesota. He’ll hope for better results than he had in his first, when he pitched two innings and yielded two runs.

Tonkin seems to have found something during his run with the Yankees, however. After being claimed off waivers out of the Twins organization, he spent three months with the Yankees and pitched to a sharp 3.38 ERA with a 24.6% strikeout rate and 9.1% walk rate in 56 innings (39 total appearances). The Yankees used him primarily in low-leverage, multi-inning spots — and Tonkin took to the role quite nicely. He’d hit a rough patch over the past five weeks though, yielding 15 earned runs in his past 19 1/3 innings.

The Twins have shuffled up their bullpen mix more than they’d hoped this season, in part due to injuries. Minnesota just recently designated veteran lefty Steven Okert for assignment and passed him through waivers. Tonkin will give them a fresh arm to replace Okert. He’ll join a talented but top-heavy Twins bullpen that’s headlined by one of the game’s best one-two punches: Jhoan Duran and Griffin Jax.

AL Central Notes: Baez, Gray, Correa, Twins, Moncada, Soroka

By Mark Polishuk | August 24, 2024 at 2:55pm CDT

The Tigers placed shortstop Javier Baez on the 10-day injured list yesterday, calling up Ryan Kriedler from Triple-A to fill the void in the infield. It is the second time this season that Baez has been sent to the IL due to lumbar inflammation, though this latest placement also involves inflammation in his right hip. Tigers manager A.J. Hinch told reporters (including Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press) that “we haven’t gotten the full diagnosis” on Baez’s injuries yet, but the team should shortly “know a little bit more about what the next month looks like and what, if any, baseball activity he’ll be able to do.”

That doesn’t sound like it bodes well for Baez’s chances of returning in 2024, as the Tigers have only the faintest hopes of a wild card berth and might just choose to shut Baez down to get him ready for next year. While injuries have contributed to Baez’s struggles this season, his .184/.221/.294 slash line over 289 plate appearances marks the third straight disastrous year for Baez since coming to Detroit on a six-year, $140MM free agent deal in the 2021-22 offseason. With $73MM still owed to Baez over the 2025-27 seasons, the contract is already an albatross, and it remains to be seen exactly how much longer the Tigers still stick with Baez as a regular part of their lineup (or whether they could release him altogether).

Twins Designate Steven Okert, Select Scott Blewett

By Mark Polishuk | August 24, 2024 at 10:42am CDT

The Twins announced that left-hander Steven Okert was designated for assignment. The move was made to create space on the 26-man and 40-man rosters for right-hander Scott Blewett, whose contract has been selected from Triple-A St. Paul.

Acquired from the Marlins for Nick Gordon back in February, Okert’s first (and potentially only) season in Minnesota has been inconsistent. He had a 3.20 ERA in his first 25 1/3 innings and 29 appearances, but has since stumbled to a 9.90 ERA over his last 10 frames and 15 games. The lowlight was a four-run implosion over one-third of an inning pitched in the Twins’ 7-5 loss to the Padres last Tuesday, though Okert did bounce back with two scoreless innings two subsequent appearances.

Okert’s 20.6% strikeout rate is the second-worst of his seven-year MLB career, and his longtime issues with control have continued in the form of a 10% walk rate. While his hard-hit ball rate is one of the league’s best, his barrel rate is below average, resulting in six home runs allowed. Okert has long been a fly-ball pitcher, and thus problems have arisen whenever he has been unable to keep the ball in the park.

As The Athletic’s Aaron Gleeman recently observed, Okert has been hit hard in high-leverage and even medium-leverage situations this season, leaving the Twins in a tough spot whenever they’ve had to call on Okert in any beyond mop-up duty. Okert had pretty even career splits heading into 2024, but right-handed batters have torched him for a .984 OPS over 95 plate appearances this season (while lefty swingers have only a .564 OPS in 65 PA).

While the three-batter minimum has ended the days of the true lefty specialist, Okert’s splits could be enough for a reliever-needy team to consider a waiver claim, if this team thinks it can either fix his issues against right-handed batters or simply do a better job of shielding him facing righty swingers. Okert is in his first season of arbitration eligibility is playing on a $1,062,500 salary, so picking up the last five weeks’ worth of that salary represents a pretty minimal hit to a new clubs’s payroll.

Because Okert has previously been outrighted in his career, he has the right to reject an outright assignment from the Twins if he clears waivers, and then opt into free agency. Okert is out of minor league options so the Twins had to DFA Okert before attempting to move him to Triple-A, and it could be that the two sides have an agreement in place about Okert accepting an assignment (if he clears waivers) and biding his time in St. Paul until a fresh arm is again needed in the big league bullpen.

Blewett faced a somewhat similar scenario when Minnesota designated him for assignment last week, as Blewett rejected an outright after clearing waivers, but then quickly re-signed with the Twins after first testing free agency. The right-hander first signed a minor league contract with the Twins back in January, and his time on the big league roster consists of a single game — a scoreless inning on August 12 in the Twins’ 8-3 win over the Royals. At Triple-A this season, Blewett has a 3.79 ERA, 22.7% strikeout rate, and 7.1% walk rate, with a .340 BABIP inflating his bottom-line numbers to some extent.

Prior to his lone game with the Twins, Blewett’s MLB resume consisted of eight innings over five appearances with Kansas City during the 2020-21 seasons. During the 2022-23 seasons, Blewett pitched in the minors with the White Sox and Braves, plus he spent time abroad pitching in the Chinese Professional Baseball League. It could be that this latest call-up will result in just another “cup of coffee” type of cameo for Blewett, but he’ll get some opportunity to show what he can do for a contending Twins club.

AL Notes: Verlander, Garcia, Buxton, Paddack, Rangers, Skubal

By Mark Polishuk | August 18, 2024 at 10:34pm CDT

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.

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