Health Updates: Heyward, Semien, Giants, Verlander
Jason Heyward was removed from tonight’s game prior to the fifth inning due to illness, and Cubs manager David Ross told The Athletic’s Patrick Mooney (Twitter links) and other reporters that Heyward was sent to hospital for precautionary reasons. “He’s not a guy that you ever have concerns about, so when he says he is having trouble breathing and (feeling) light-headed, I just want to make sure everything’s all right,” Ross said.
It seems probable that Heyward will miss at least a game or two due to this situation even if everything checks out with doctors, though obviously the chief concern is that Heyward is healthy and well. The 31-year-old Heyward is enjoying by far the best of his five seasons in Chicago, entering tonight’s play with a superb .306/.421/.551 slash line and five home runs over 121 PA.
Some more items from around baseball…
- A rib/side injury has kept Marcus Semien out of action since August 29, though the Athletics shortstop could take batting practice on the field tomorrow, manager Bob Melvin told MLB.com’s Martin Gallegos and other reporters. That could be a precursor for an impending return for Semien, who can return whenever he is ready since he wasn’t placed on the injured list — the A’s had a team-wide break in the schedule due to a positive COVID-19 test. Semien is still looking to get on track this season, hitting only .229/.285/.379 over his first 151 plate appearances.
- Giants hurlers Jeff Samardzija and Drew Smyly each threw around 50 pitches in simulated game action on Saturday, manager Gabe Kapler told reporters (including Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle). Smyly has been out of action since August 2 due to strained left index finger, while Samardzija hit the 10-day IL on August 8 with a shoulder impingement. It isn’t yet clear when either pitcher could return, or in what roles they could be deployed in upon their returns. Kapler’s mention of relief work as a possible route for Samardzija is notable, given that “The Shark” has worked exclusively as a starter since the start of the 2012 season.
- Justin Verlander has begun throwing off a mound, Astros GM James Click said today during a pregame interview with Astros Radio (hat tip to The Athletic’s Jake Kaplan). A forearm strain has kept Verlander sidelined for all but one start of the 2020 season, though his latest rehab update provides some hope that Verlander could potentially still return at some point in the regular season or postseason.
Pitching Notes: D-backs, Cubs, Verlander
Diamondbacks starter Robbie Ray is drawing interest from “a few teams” as a bullpen possibility, Bob Nightengale of USA Today writes. The 28-year-old left-hander has only made three relief appearances in his career (none since his first season in 2014); however, after several respectable seasons as a starter, the soon-to-be free agent has tanked in 2020. He owns an awful 8.33 ERA/7.77 FIP with 8.33 BB/9 across 27 innings this year, though some clubs may have hope that Ray’s high-strikeout ways will lead to success in the bullpen during the stretch run of the season. That said, there’s no guarantee the Diamondbacks will move Ray before the Aug. 31 deadline, as they entered Monday a manageable two games back of a wild-card spot.
- More on the Diamondbacks, who made righty Merrill Kelly a late scratch before his start Monday. It was easy to speculate on a potential trade when that happened, but it turns out Kelly is dealing with a nerve impingement in his pitching shoulder, Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic tweets. The club has placed Kelly on the 10-day injured list as a result and recalled righty Riley Smith. Kelly has been quite effective this season, as MLBTR’s Steve Adams explained Monday, so losing him is a blow to the D-backs’ playoff hopes and perhaps a less-than-ideal development heading into the deadline.
- Cubs southpaw Jose Quintana and righty Tyler Chatwood will come off the injured list Tuesday, Gordon Wittenmyer of NBC Sports Chicago reports. Quintana, who has been out all season after undergoing left thumb surgery, will work from the bullpen upon his return. That’s relatively new territory for Quintana, who has totaled just four relief appearances out of 250 in his career. As Wittenmyer notes, though, Quintana could find himself back in a starting role soon if Chatwood or Alec Mills falters (Mills didn’t in a win over Detroit on Monday). Chatwood, who will start Tuesday, turned in a pair of great outings to open the season, but he went on the IL with a back issue after the Royals shellacked him for eight earned runs on 11 hits in 2 1/3 innings on Aug. 6. He’s now set to rejoin Mills, Yu Darvish, Kyle Hendricks and Jon Lester in the Cubs’ rotation.
- It has been nearly a month since the Astros shut down ace Justin Verlander because of a right forearm strain, but the reigning AL Cy Young winner continues to make progress in his recovery. Manager Dusty Baker issued an update on Verlander on Monday, saying to Mark Berman of Fox 26 and other reporters: “I think he threw 20 pitches yesterday. He said he felt pretty good. That’s a positive sign.” It’s still unknown whether Verlander will make it back this year, especially with only about a month remaining in the regular season. Houston has started 15-13 despite only one appearance from Verlander (and several other notable injuries), putting the team two games back of a wild-card spot.
Latest On Justin Verlander
The Astros are badly in need of several missing stars. Perhaps no absence is more notable than that of staff ace Justin Verlander.
Last we checked in, Verlander was not progressing as rapidly from a forearm strain as he had hoped. But it seems now that he’s nearing readiness for an attempt at a return.
Verlander is “making excellent progress,” per MLB.com’s Brian McTaggart. If all goes as planned, he could be throwing within a week. It’s anyone’s guess how things will progress from that point, but it’d be possible to imagine a late-2020 resumption of play.
Both Verlander and the ‘Stros are surely thinking about more than 2020 alone. He’s under contract for 2021 as well, at a guaranteed $33MM salary.
Quick Hits: Verlander, Seager, Soroka
Astros manager Dusty Baker told reporters including the Houston Chronicle’s Chandler Rome that ace Justin Verlander is “not progressing as quickly as he’d like” in his recovery from a forearm strain. Of course, Verlander holds himself to extremely lofty standards, so that could mean any number of things. Verlander went to the injured list on July 27th after just one six-inning start. The Astros are as eager as Verlander to have their ace return – they’re in the middle of the pack, record-wise, and awaiting the return of a number of key players, including Yordan Alvarez and Jose Urquidy. In the meantime, they recently shuffled their rotation in the hopes of providing a spark from a new line of starters.
- Corey Seager had a back scan last night, but the results showed nothing to be concerned about, per MLB.com’s Ken Gurnick. The discomfort Seager has been feeling is not related to the back injury that he suffered during the 2017 playoffs, adds J.P. Hoornstra of the Southern California News Group. That’s very encouraging news for the Dodgers. Seager has started hot this season (.340/.389/.600) after a so-so season in 2019 dimmed his star (to some) just a bit. He’s day-to-day for now, with Chris Taylor captaining the infield in his stead.
- Mike Soroka‘s surgery to repair his right Achilles tendon yesterday was successful, the team announced. The first step in a long recovery process is now in the books for the Braves’ ace. There’s no sugarcoating the severity of Soroka’s injury, though a number of people have made a point to say that Soroka has the temperament and work ethic to weather this storm and return to acedom. With a bevy of young pitching candidates in a much-hyped system, Soroka has stood out among the field, quickly becoming the ace of this Braves contender. In 29 starts last year, he went 13-4 with a 2.68 ERA/3.45 FIP, finishing 2nd in Rookie of the Year voting and 6th for Cy Young.
Astros Place Justin Verlander On Injured List, Select Brandon Bielak
The Astros have placed Justin Verlander on 10-day injured list due to a forearm strain and selected the contract of right-hander Brandon Bielak, MLB.com’s Brian McTaggart tweets. Houston has also optioned infielder Taylor Jones to alternate camp and recalled right-hander Nivaldo Rodriguez.
Verlander yesterday publicly denied a report that he’s expected to miss the rest of the 2020 season with the injury, tweeting that he is hopeful rest will heal the current issue and allow him to return. For now, Verlander won’t throw for at least two weeks and will be re-evaluated after that shutdown. In his absence, a once-formidable rotation now looks vulnerable. Lance McCullers Jr. was sharp in his return effort from Tommy John surgery, and veteran Zack Greinke is remains a high-end option. But the options beyond that pair include Framber Valdez, Josh James and several other largely unproven names (Bielak among them).
Bielak, 24, was the Astros’ 11th-round pick back in 2017 and currently ranks in the top half to top third of the team’s 30 best prospects. He split the 2019 season between Double-A and Triple-A, pitching to a combined 4.22 ERA with 8.8 K/9, 3.7 BB/9, 1.0 HR/9 and a 46 percent ground-ball rate. Both MLB.com and FanGraphs label him as a potential fourth/fifth starter in their reports on him, noting that he lacks a true plus pitch but has average across-the-board offerings, a durable frame and history of throwing strikes.
Rodriguez, 23, might not have gotten the call in a normal season, as he’s never pitched above A-ball. However, the Astros are more limited in their choices, so he’ll jump straight to the big leagues on the heels of last year’s 2.40 ERA, 9.8 K/9 and 3.0 BB/9 in 105 frames between Class-A and Class-A Advanced.
Justin Verlander Shut Down With Forearm Strain
Astros ace and reigning AL Cy Young Award winner Justin Verlander has been diagnosed with a forearm strain and has been shut down, reports Bob Nightengale of USA Today. An MRI yesterday revealed the strain. Manager Dusty Baker told reporters that Verlander will be shut down “for a couple of weeks” before he is re-evaluated.
Verlander started the Astros’ season opener on Friday and notched his first win of 2020, throwing six innings of two-run baseball, allowing just three hits and striking out seven. In that start against the Mariners, Verlander’s fastball averaged 94.9 mph and reached as high as 96.7, according to Statcast. Last year, his average fastball velocity was 94.6 mph. He threw 73 pitches, but there weren’t any outward signs that the 37-year-old suffered an injury. Per Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle, Verlander later told the Astros that his right arm was “tender” during Friday’s game.
He was scheduled to make his next start on Wednesday against the Dodgers. As of now, Baker and the Astros haven’t decided who will replace Verlander on the bump.
Verlander had already encountered his fair share of health troubles during the spring, with a lat strain and right groin surgery forcing him to rehab during the season’s coronavirus-necessitated delay, but he recovered well and was a full go in Spring Training 2.0.
Needless to say, any injury to the staff ace is a crippling blow to one of this year’s World Series favorites. Even with Verlander anchoring the staff, there were doubts about the Astros rotation after the departure of co-ace Gerrit Cole in the winter. With Lance McCullers Jr. coming off Tommy John surgery and Josh James and Jose Urquidy yet to prove themselves capable of shouldering a bigger workload, it was no secret that the Astros rotation would be unable to replicate last year’s historic success.
Of course, Baker’s phrasing means there’s hope that Verlander will be back on the field in a matter of weeks, and if that’s the case, the Astros’ depth would likely allow them to patch together a rotation in the meantime. But if the forearm strain necessitates a long-term IL stint, as we know any arm injury can, the Astros will face much greater problems.
In light of Verlander’s injury, the likes of Zack Greinke, McCullers, James, and Jose Urquidy will step into bigger roles in the Houston pitching staff. That’s not a bad unit, and Greinke has the track record of an ace, but Houston’s depth will undoubtedly be challenged by Verlander’s absence, however long it may be.
An earlier version of this story stated that Verlander would miss the remainder of the season, as per this report. As of now, that is not correct; the only timetable given by the Astros is that Verlander’s forearm strain will be re-evaluated in a couple of weeks.
Astros Expect Justin Verlander To Be Full Participant In Spring Training
The Astros should have their ace, Justin Verlander, at 100 percent when spring training resumes. The club expects Verlander, who underwent groin surgery in March, to be a full participant in camp, Jon Morosi of MLB Network reports.
Along with the groin issue, Verlander also dealt with a lat strain in March. It’s, of course, unusual for physical problems to weigh down the 37-year-old Verlander, a longtime workhorse who turned in a whopping 12th 200-inning season in 2019 en route to his second American League Cy Young Award and eighth All-Star nod. In all, he fired 223 frames of 2.58 ERA ball with 12.11 K/9 and 1.7 BB/9 to help the Astros to another AL West title and league pennant.
Verlander formed a near-untouchable trio with righty Gerrit Cole and trade deadline acquisition Zack Greinke last season, but Cole left to join the rival Yankees in free agency on a record-setting contract worth $324MM over nine seasons. Verlander and Greinke are all the more important to the Astros with Cole out of the picture, and the team’s rotation also lost another veteran in lefty Wade Miley over the winter. But the Astros will at least get Lance McCullers Jr. back from Tommy John surgery this year. He’ll help Verlander and Greinke lead a staff that’s otherwise low on proven major league options.
Justin Verlander Throwing From Mound
Astros ace Justin Verlander appears to have made full use of the coronavirus pause of the season. The veteran hurler is back to throwing off of the mound, per his own Instagram feed.
When last we checked in on JV, he was making progress in healing up from a few recent maladies. As of late April, he felt he had mostly healed from a lat strain and was also moving in a positive direction following groin surgery.
It would seem the upward trajectory has continued since that time. Verlander looks to be throwing comfortably in the video he provides.
What remains unclear at this point is just what timeline remains for Verlander to ramp up to full readiness. It isn’t yet known precisely when the 2020 season will launch, but that date is surely approaching.
It would obviously be a huge boon to the Astros to have Verlander available for all of the truncated campaign. He has been outstanding ever since arriving in Houston, producing excellent results while shouldering a heavy workload even as he moves into his late thirties.
Justin Verlander Provides Rehab Update
Reigning AL Cy Young winner Justin Verlander was hampered by a pair of spring health troubles — a lat strain and a groin injury that required surgery — but the Houston ace told reporters Thursday that he’s progressed to playing long toss (Twitter links via Brian McTaggart of MLB.com). The lat strain, per Verlander, is mostly healed up, and he’s made “a big stride” in his rehab from the groin surgery as well.
Both updates are encouraging for the Astros, although there’s still no formal word from the team on a timetable for the right-hander’s return to the mound. At the time of Verlander’s surgery in mid-March, Astros general manager James Click put a rough six-week timetable on his rehab process. We’re a couple days past that point now, although with the 2020 season in limbo, it’s only sensible to be a bit cautious in the rehab process.
Verlander added that the surgery is “already showing some benefit in my mechanics” as he works to make his delivery as efficient as possible (link via the Houston Chronicle’s Chandler Rome). Notably, Verlander revealed that the surgery stemmed from an MRI that revealed his adductor muscle had nearly torn off the bone completely.
Verlander, 37, is signed through the 2021 season at $33MM per year under the terms of the extension he signed with Houston late in Spring Training last year. He responded to that contract with arguably the best season of his Hall of Fame career. Verlander led the league with 223 innings and pitched to a 2.58 ERA with a masterful 300-to-42 K/BB ratio (12.1 K/9, 1.7 BB/9) and narrowly edged now-former teammate Gerrit Cole for Cy Young honors in the AL. He made at least 30 starts for the 13th time in 14 years, and his 179 ERA+ represented a career best.
Quick Hits: Verlander, Draft Scouting, Moore
Justin Verlander is the latest player to contribute towards the COVID-19 relief effort, as the Astros ace and his wife Kate Upton announced (via Twitter) that Verlander’s weekly paycheck will be donated to a different organization every week. “We’ll also be highlighting the organization that we choose so that that everyone can see the amazing work they’re doing right now,” Upton said. As per the terms of the recent agreement between the MLB Players Association and Major League Baseball, Verlander is part of the group of players (who have reached salary arbitration or are on guaranteed contracts) that will receive roughly $5K per day in both April and May. Now, all of the money Verlander receives from those payments will go to a variety of worthy causes.
Some more from around the baseball world…
- Major League scouts will soon be permitted to contact prospects for the 2020 draft and the 2020-21 international signing period (as well as the prospects’ families and advisers) beginning next week, CBS Sports’ R.J. Anderson writes. MLB halted all scouting activities as part of the league-wide shutdown in March, and any sort of in-person workouts or meetings are still banned. ESPN.com’s Kiley McDaniel reports that teams are also not permitted to view any video footage of such workout sessions that took place after March 27. That said, teams can gather data and video on players (from third parties or from the prospects’ representatives) prior to that date, and also contact the prospects’ teams by phone, e-mail, or any other type of indirect method. With some rough plans now in place for a shortened 2020 draft, teams will now have some avenues to gain fresher information on players they might wish to select. The amateur draft will now take place in July, while the next international signing period (originally scheduled to open on July 2) could be pushed back as far as January.
- The 2020 season was already going to be a new experience for Matt Moore after the left-hander signed with Nippon Professional Baseball’s SoftBank Hawks, though the coronavirus pandemic has created an extra layer of unexpected adversity. Moore talks to The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal about the differences and similarities between playing and living in Japan as opposed to the majors, his offseason courtship from SoftBank that included a private workout for the team, and how playing for the Hawks marks something of a return. Moore spent four years living in Japan as a child when his father was transferred to a U.S. Air Force base in Okinawa.