The Houston Astros have been in a tight race for the division lead and could be getting a huge boost soon as their ace receives another positive injury update.
Justin Verlander hasn’t pitched in live action since the beginning of June but finally has a window for his first rehab assignment.
Chandler Rome of The Athletic shared that Verlander would be throwing a bullpen session on Wednesday and if all goes well, he’ll head to the Sugar Land Space Cowboys for a rehab start at the Triple-A level this weekend. Saturday seems like the most likely date, but it has not yet been decided.
The three-time Cy Young winner, two times with the Astros, suffered a neck injury against the Los Angeles Angels. It was his second injury of the season after a shoulder issue in March caused him to start the season late.
Though he is getting up there in age, the two injuries had nothing to do with each other and there isn’t a huge worry that he’ll re-aggravate them down the stretch.
Since losing their ace, Houston’s pitching staff have worked a 27-19 record. Their staff ERA is at 3.61, which is the second-best mark in the league in that span. They also lead the league in K/9.
Getting Verlander back will do nothing other than give yet another boost to a staff that is playing their best baseball of the year.
The 41-year-old has still been playing solid baseball when healthy. He has a 3.95 ERA, mostly ballooned by a couple of standout games.
The month of May is the only full month that he’s played and he looked like vintage Verlander for much of the year.
His fastball velocity continues to fall, down to under 94 MPH on average, but he’s been able to adapt. His strikeout rate is up from last season and hard hit rate is as low as it’s been in the 2020s. He’s started to throw his cutter a bit more and has seen a big rise in his changeup.
Getting him back will be a nice boost and it looks like that will happen in around two weeks if everything goes well.
