Astros manager Joe Espada offered a disappointing, if not entirely surprising, injury update regarding two of his biggest stars. Speaking to reporters (including Matt Kawahara of the Houston Chronicle) ahead of today’s contest in Toronto, the skipper acknowledged that neither Kyle Tucker nor Justin Verlander is likely to return from the IL before the All-Star break.
Tucker has not played since June 3 as he nurses a right shin contusion he suffered when he fouled a ball off his leg. In mid-June, Espada suggested that Tucker would likely require a minor league rehab assignment. With the All-Star break fast approaching and the outfielder yet to begin any on-field work (per Kawahara), it’s hard to imagine he makes it back before the break. The Astros would surely like to have Tucker back as soon as possible, but they have played surprisingly well in their best hitter’s absence. Making sure that he’s healthy for the stretch run is more important than rushing him back in July.
Meanwhile, Verlander has not pitched since June 9; he is dealing with neck discomfort. He is progressing well, but Espada says the future Hall of Famer has not yet gotten back to throwing off a mound. Once again, the Astros could certainly use the veteran in their injury-plagued rotation ASAP, but rushing him back would be a shortsighted move with so much season left to play.
Another point of interest concerning Verlander: As Kawahara notes, it is now extremely unlikely that his conditional $35MM player option for 2025 will be triggered. Even if the 41-year-old were to return immediately after the All-Star break and pitch once every five games for the rest of the season, he would need to average 6 1/3 innings per start to reach the necessary 140 innings pitched.
Finally, Espada also mentioned that rookie Jake Bloss will make a rehab start this weekend. Barring any setbacks, the young righty could make his next start in Houston. Bloss, 23, is generally considered one of the Astros’ better pitching prospects. He landed on the IL with shoulder discomfort on June 21, the same day that he made his MLB debut.
More injury updates from around the AL West:
- Rangers manager Bruce Bochy offered reporters an update on Josh Jung, who has been on the IL almost all season. The All-Star third baseman fractured his wrist on a hit-by-pitch on April 1. Jung has recently been nursing a flare-up of discomfort in his injured wrist and has not swung a bat since his last rehab game on June 20 (per Kennedi Landry of MLB.com). However, he has no further structural damage. The Rangers are going to shut him down completely for another week, after which they hope he’ll be able to restart his rehab assignment (per Jeff Wilson of Rangers Today). Needless to say, this means Jung will not be ready to return to Arlington before the All-Star break.
- In more positive news, the Mariners aren’t ready to rule out the possibility that Bryan Woo could return to their rotation ahead of the Midsummer Classic. He threw a successful bullpen session on Wednesday (per Daniel Kramer of MLB.com) and will make a rehab start this weekend. If all goes well in that outing, there’s a chance he could make his next start for Seattle. Woo, 24, has pitched exceptionally well in his sophomore season, with a 1.77 ERA in eight starts. Not all of his underlying numbers are quite as eye-catching (4.01 SIERA, 3.96 xFIP), but there’s no doubt the Mariners would like to have the young hurler back as soon as possible to see more of what he’s capable of.
Tucker fouls a ball off his shin and you think okay maybe he’ll miss a game. Maybe two. Now it feels like we may never see him again. Baseball Is something else. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Pale – You just never know with injuries, but this type certainly won’t be a longterm one.
Astros are on such a roll now, imagine when Tucker does return. Those who had already counted them out will be looking mighty foolish.
June 3rd to after the all star break is not a long one?
Hawk – Not longterm as in “we will never see him again” which is what Pale was worried about.
Got ya…I agree there
He hit the same place last season. The Astros are notorious for not talking about injuries. My guess is they knew it was a fracture and not a bruise.
I had the same thing Tucker is dealing with except mine was from a wet softball skimming into my leg…it took me a month before the purple left and the bone never really stops hurt for longer. He could play on it if this was October but its July and he can rest as long as he needs.
I know he’s not a “regular”, but Leo is a good writer. I don’t notice as many errors in his posts (I’m a former editor, I can’t help it).
@Coop.
Copy editors are sorely missed in this world nowadays. I was never an editor and sometimes the grammar and mistakes make me wonder where proof reading went. But it’s a free site so we are not allowed to complain!!!
coop – Volume has a lot to do with it.
It’s like any job …. the more you produce, the more potential for errors.
Whats the concern level for josh jung? Should be healed by now
I think his injury was worse than reported.
Must be. Who misses 25% of the season with a leg bruise from a foul?
it was a broken wrist. he had plates and screws put in his hand
Whats frustrating is a week or 2 ago jung was reported to be reinstated “tomorrow” then “next week” then “we’re not sure” now “who the f knows” either the journalists are not doing enough to report facts, or the tm is clueless or the doctors are clueless or all of the above. In any event hope jung heals fast, such a talent
was in round rock til june 20th. then his wrist swelled up. so they shut him down. no dmage, just inflammation. wrist is still healed up. now its just rest and let the inflammation go down. nothing else can be done. he will probably come back the same time as Evan. week after ASB
evan started hitting live pitching today in AZ
That wrist injury had far more structural damage per the doctor who performed the surgery. The Rangers should shelve him for the remainder of the season if they want him back at 100% next spring.