Ace Verlander has back strain, unlikely to be ready for opener

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Houston ace Justin Verlander has a mild strain of a back muscle and said it would “probably take a miracle” for him to pitch in the Astros’ opener at Oakland on March 26.

In an effort to remain positive, Verlander quickly added, “but I don’t want to leave miracles off the table.”

The reigning AL Cy Young Award winner was hurt on his second-to-last pitch in Sunday’s exhibition game against the New York Mets. He had an MRI on Monday and was diagnosed with a strained latissimus dorsi muscle. There is not a timetable for his return.

“Talking with doctors and looking at the scans, it’s definitely not worstcase scenario,” Verlander said, “Bestcase scenario would be nothing. It’s just probably somewhere in the middle of that.”

The 37-year-old right-hander’s velocity was down from his previous start, and he was removed after two scoreless innings of what had been scheduled as a four-inning outing.

“Hardly noticed it to be honest,” Verlander said of the injury-inducing pitch. “It didn’t quite feel right, just felt maybe I was a little off mechanically or something — kind of one of those spring things. Then in between innings it started to tighten up a bit.”

Groin tightness slowed Verlander earlier in spring training. He said he did not know whether the two issues were related.

Verlander had a similar lat injury during spring training in 2015 and did not make his season debut until June 13. Verlander finished 5-8 with a 3.38 ERA in 133 1/3 innings for Detroit.

“Scans can say a lot of stuff and MRIs can say a lot of stuff, but one of the most important things is how you feel physically,” Verlander said. “I’m trying to be very truthful with myself. I’m trying to recall also how I felt in ‘15. I definitely feel better this time than then.”