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Latest On Justin Verlander

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This season hasn’t gone as hoped for the reigning American League champion Astros, who have started 22-21 while dealing with several notable injuries. They have gone nearly the entire campaign without 2019 AL Cy Young winner Justin Verlander, who made one start in July and has been out since with a forearm strain, but it seems there is hope the right-hander will return this year. Manager Dusty Baker told Jake Kaplan of The Athletic and other reporters that Verlander was in line for a 50- to 55-pitch bullpen session Wednesday.

It remains to be seen whether Verlander will get through the session without setbacks, but it’s nonetheless encouraging that he has progressed to this point. Should he get through it unscathed, Verlander could be close to rejoining the Astros, who would make the playoffs if the season ended now.

Thankfully for Verlander-less Houston, Framber Valdez has established himself as a solid starter this year, which has helped complement Zack Greinke in their staff and make up for the loss of Verlander to a degree. Rookie Cristian Javier has stopped runs at a good rate (3.46 ERA over 41 2/3 innings), meanwhile, but his peripherals aren’t as encouraging. And though the Astros did just get back Jose Urquidy back from the injured list, they had to place Lance McCullers Jr. on the IL on Sept. 6 with neck issues. So, while the Astros would be thrilled to welcome a healthy and effective Verlander back under any circumstance, he may be especially helpful in the next few weeks.

Lance McCullers Jr. Placed On 10-Day Injured List

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TODAY: The procedure Baker mentioned was “a mild anti-inflammatory injection to alleviate nerve irritation in [McCullers’] neck,” according to Rome.

SEPT. 8: McCullers “had some procedure done” on his neck, manager Dusty Baker announced (via Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle). The surgery repaired “95 to 98 percent of whatever discomfort he was feeling,” according to Baker, though it’s still unknown when McCullers will return.

SEPT. 6: The Astros have placed right-hander Lance McCullers Jr. on the 10-day injured list due to neck nerve irritation, reports Brian McTaggart of MLB.com. Beyond the requisite 10 days on the IL, a timeline for McCullers’s return is unclear. Southpaw Cionel Perez was recalled from the taxi squad to join the active roster.

McCullers pitched Friday against the Angels, failing to record an out and exiting the game after facing just five batters. He walked three Angels hitters and conceded three runs, but stated after the game that his struggles weren’t due to injury.

While we don’t know precisely how long the Astros expect McCullers to be shelved, any injury to an already-thin Houston pitching staff is a significant one. The team has been without ace Justin Verlander for practically the entire season, and Jose Urquidy has only just returned from a bout with COVID-19. As such, Houston has had to rely on inexperienced starters like Cristian Javier, Framber Valdez, and Brandon Bielak.

McCullers, for his part, has had an up-and-down campaign in his return from Tommy John surgery, which cost him all of last year. There’s been a mix of good starts and bad starts, but the numbers indicate for the most part that the 26-year-old is not quite back to the form that earned him an All-Star nod in 2017.

While he’s been known as a strikeout pitcher for his entire career, he’s averaging only 7.7 K/9 in 2020.  McCullers’ sinker velocity is down ever so slightly from previous years, but the more glaring disparity is in his sinker’s spin rate, which has taken a considerable hit from where it was two years ago. That, along with decreased curveball usage (at 35%, he’s throwing the curveball less than ever), has made it more difficult to generate whiffs.

Astros Add 2 To Player Pool

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  • The Astros have added shortstop Jeremy Pena and catcher Korey Lee to their 60-man player pool, per Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle. Both players (Pena at No. 6, Lee No. 7) rank among the Astros’ best prospects at MLB.com. The 22-year-old Pena was a third-round pick of the Astros in 2018 who batted .317/.378/.467 in his first 185 plate appearances at High-A last season. Lee, 22, joined the Astros as the 32nd selection in the 2019 draft. After that, Lee hit .268/.359/.371 over 259 PA during his low-A debut.

Alex Bregman Nearing Return; Astros Place Taylor, Devenski On IL

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The Astros are likely to activate star third baseman Alex Bregman from the injured list on Tuesday, manager Dusty Baker told Jake Kaplan of The Athletic and other reporters.

Houston has gone without Bregman since he suffered a strained right hamstring on Aug. 19, temporarily depriving the club of one of baseball’s greatest talents. Bregman’s production has dipped a bit compared to the previous couple seasons, but his output has still been outstanding this season. The 26-year-old slashed .272/.374/.500 (139 wRC+) with four home runs in 107 plate appearances before hitting the IL. The Astros have since turned to Abraham Toro, Jack Mayfield and Aledmys Diaz at the hot corner, but those three have registered terrible numbers this season. Plus, having dropped four straight to fall to 21-19, the Astros as a whole have slumped of late, so they’ll be all the more pleased to welcome Bregman back.

Meantime, the news isn’t nearly as positive for Houston’s pitching staff, which lost left-hander Blake Taylor and righty Chris Devenski to the IL with elbow problems on Monday, Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle tweets. The Astros will use righties Chase De Jong and Humberto Castellanos to take their open roster spots.

The rookie Taylor, 25, has been a bright spot for an Astros relief corps that has dealt with injuries to the likes of Roberto Osuna and Brad Peacock, among others. In his first 17 major league frames, Taylor has posted a 2.12 ERA/4.09 FIP with 7.94 K/9 and a 51.1 percent groundball rate, though he has walked 5.82 batters per nine. Devenski, formerly a key cog for Houston’s bullpen, has been battling elbow issues throughout the season. He made two appearances in July, missed all of August and then totaled another two appearances this month (on Sept. 5 and 6), in which he combined for 1 2/3 innings of three-run ball, before going back to the IL.

Justin Verlander Begins Throwing Off Mound

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  • 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.

Austin Pruitt Out For Season After Elbow Surgery

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When the Houston Astros acquired Austin Pruitt from the Rays this past January, they thought they were building on their pitching depth with a veteran swingman who could plug the gaps in the rotation or bullpen as needed in 2020. To no fault of Pruitt or the Astros, things haven’t worked out as planned. The 31-year-old Pruitt hasn’t thrown a pitch for Houston this season, and he’s not going to. Pruitt underwent surgery to fix a hairline fracture in his right elbow on Wednesday. He’ll be out for the remainder of the season, per MLB.com’s Brian McTaggart. Pruitt may also miss the beginning of 2021 as he recovers.

The Astros’ acquisition of Pruitt came at a funny time in their history, as GM Jeff Luhnow would be fired just four days later. Little more than a month after that, current GM James Click would follow Pruitt to the Astros to take over as general manager. There may be slight pangs of regret surrounding this deal, then, for Click, who would have been part of the team that sent Pruitt to the Astros in exchange for outfielder Cal Stevenson and right-hander Peyton Battenfield. Stevenson originally came to the Astros from the Blue Jays as part of the return for Aaron Sanchez, while Battenfield was a ninth-round pick in the 2019 draft.

In parts of three seasons with the Rays, Pruitt logged 199 2/3 innings across 57 relief appearances and 10 starts. The Houston native owns a 4.87 ERA/4.17 FIP for his career with a modest 6.6 K/9 versus 2.3 BB/9. He was up-and-down between Triple-A and the majors each season since making his debut as a 27-year-old in 2017.

The Astros could have used Pruitt as they’ve struggled at times to piece together the arms necessary to build a rotation. Their staff is middling overall in terms of production, ranking 16th in the majors by fWAR, 9th by ERA, and 15th by FIP. Beyond Pruitt, Jose Urquidy has yet to throw a pitch after landing on the COVID-19 injured list, and ace Justin Verlander made just one start before a strained forearm sent him to the IL. Still, Houston happened to have another ace on hand in Zack Greinke, Framber Valdez has broken out and claimed a rotation spot with a 2.58 ERA/2.59 FIP over 6 starts, and rookie Cristian Javier has more than held his own at the back end. The Astros are firmly in playoff position and just 2 games behind the division-leading Athletics.

Jose Altuve Undergoes MRI On Right Knee

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Sept. 4: Altuve is considered day-to-day after undergoing an MRI, MLB.com’s Jon Morosi tweets. The exact diagnosis isn’t clear, although that certainly suggests he’s avoided a major injury.

Sept. 3: Astros second baseman Jose Altuve will undergo an MRI on his right knee, manager Dusty Baker announced Thursday (via Brian McTaggart of MLB.com). Altuve exited the Astros’ game against the Rangers on Thursday because of discomfort in the area.

Right knee problems aren’t anything new for Altuve, who underwent surgery on the joint after the 2018 season. The former AL MVP bounced back with another highly productive season last year, helping the Astros to a pennant, but has endured uncharacteristic struggles in 2020. So far, Altuve has amassed 155 plate appearances and batted .231/.290/.329 with three home runs and two stolen bases. His 74 wRC+ pales in comparison to the 141 mark he combined for during the previous six seasons.

Despite Altuve’s slow start, it goes without saying the Astros would rather have him out there than not, especially considering he has been their almost exclusive choice at second this season. Furthermore, although the Astros improved to 21-15 on Thursday and are in possession of the AL’s second wild-card spot, they’ve already suffered enough serious injuries to this point. The club has gone extended stretches without Justin Verlander, Alex Bregman, Yordan Alvarez, Roberto Osuna and Jose Urquidy, who – along with several other Astros – are on the IL right now. Verlander and Osuna may not return this year, while Alvarez definitely won’t after undergoing surgery on both knees.

Astros Release Fernando Rodney

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The Astros have released veteran hurler Fernando Rodney, per Jake Kaplan of The Athletic (via Twitter). He had been in the team’s 60-man player pool on a minor-league deal.

Rodney opened the year throwing with the indy ball Sugar Land Skeeters, giving the ’Stros a chance to determine he was worthy of a closer look. But the 43-year-old hurler evidently didn’t impress at the team’s alternate training site.

When last we saw Rodney in action, he had enough in the tank to be a significant contributor to the 2019 World Series-winning Nats. He worked to a 4.05 ERA in 33 1/3 regular-season innings and was handed the ball six times in the postseason.

It remains to be seen whether this is the end of the line for the ageless reliever. He was still averaging better than 94 ticks on his heater last year. In his 17 total MLB campaigns, Rodney carries a 3.80 ERA over 933 innings.

Jose Urquidy Nearing Return

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At 19-15 and firmly in the American League playoff race, the Astros have hung tough this season despite an array of health problems. Right-hander Jose Urquidy’s among the many players they have missed for an extended stretch, but it appears he could make his 2020 debut with a start Saturday, per manager Dusty Baker (via Brian McTaggart of MLB.com). Urquidy will throw a bullpen session in the meantime.

It’s hasn’t been disclosed why Urquidy has been unable to pitch this season, but regardless, he could be a welcome down-the-stretch pickup for Houston. The 25-year-old entered the majors a season ago and acquitted himself well over 41 innings, logging a 3.95 ERA/3.68 FIP with 8.78 K/9 and 1.54 BB/9. Urquidy averaged 93 mph-plus on his fastball and yielded a solid .285 weighted on-base average/.299 expected wOBA to opposing hitters in the process.

Should he slide back into Houston’s starting staff in the coming weeks, Urquidy would join a group that has received tremendous production from Zack Greinke and Framber Valdez. Those two have kept the Astros’ rotation afloat during a season in which they’ve largely gone without reigning AL Cy Young winner Justin Verlander, who has totaled just one start (back on July 24) because of forearm problems. The Astros have also turned to Lance McCullers Jr., Cristian Javier and Brandon Bielak for starts, but they’ve been a mixed bag in terms of run prevention and peripherals.

Astros Re-Open Alternate Training Site

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  • The Athletics haven’t played since Saturday due to a positive COVID-19 test within the organization, which led to the postponement of Sunday’s game with the Astros and games set for today and tomorrow against the Mariners.  However, the team’s traveling party hasn’t delivered any further positive results after a round of tests conducted both Sunday and yesterday, Susan Slusser and Matt Kawahara of the San Francisco Chronicle report.  For now, signs seem to be pointing towards the A’s returning to the field on Friday to begin a series with the Padres, as Slusser and MLB Network’s Jon Heyman (Twitter links) reports that Thursday’s game with the Mariners will also be postponed.  Looking at both the Seattle and Oakland schedules, one would think September 14 or 17 would be natural days for re-scheduled days, as both clubs are off on those days.  [UPDATE: The A’s announced the makeup dates for the Mariners series — a doubleheader in Seattle on September 14, and a previously-scheduled game in Seattle on September 26 will now also be a doubleheader.]
  • The Astros have re-opened their alternate training site in Corpus Christi, GM James Click told the Houston Chronicle’s Chandler Rome and other reporters.  This was the second time in a little over a week’s time that the facility had been closed down due to a positive coronavirus test.
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