‘THIS IS NOT GOOD NEWS’
With Verlander likely out until he hits free agency, club’s window to contend could be closing
A chapter of Justin Verlander’s Hall of Fame career appears over.
Three Augusts ago, he arrived in Houston around midnight and propelled the Astros to their first World Series title. He surpassed enormous expectations in each of his next two seasons, defying time and reaching milestones that cemented him as one of this generation’s greatest righthanded pitchers.
Verlander seemed to only grow stronger with age, affording the Astros an unquestioned ace during this club’s three-year renaissance. Now, in a calendar year that’s already crushed this franchise, the reigning Cy Young Award winner appears gone for good.
Verlander announced Saturday that he will undergo Tommy John surgery to repair the ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow. The operation ends Verlander’s comeback attempt for the 2020 season and almost surely puts him out for all of 2021 — his final year under Astros team control.
In a video posted to his Instagram account, Verlander said he felt something in his elbow while throwing a simulated game Wednesday at Minute Maid Park.
“Obviously this is not good news,” Verlander said. “However, I’m going to handle this the only way that I know how: I’m going to be optimistic, I’m going to put my head down, work hard, attack this rehab and hopefully come out the other side better for it.”
The news offers a somewhat stunning sense of finality for the Astros, an underperforming team mired in a mediocre 60game season.
It devastates their already faint hopes for a long playoff run this season. Aspirations to contend in 2021 are endangered, too.
“You can’t replace Justin Verlander. No one person can replace Justin Verlander,” general manager James Click said. “This is going to have to be a total team effort. If everybody steps up a little bit … we can try to cover that a little bit.”
Verlander is set to make $33 million in 2021 as part of a two-year, $66 million extension he signed in Febraury 2019. Verlander will enter free agency after the 2021 season as a 39-yearold man with a long-stated mindset to pitch until he’s 45.
“He’s a guy who has pitched for years, and he’s been a warrior and a leader, so hopefully this will prolong his career and he can be back to pitching,” Astros manager Dusty Baker said. “I’ve told him that I think he’s a medical marvel and he is a great physical specimen, and once he gets this taken care of, I know how he works, how hard he works, that he’ll be pitching for years to come.
Before the 2020 season, Verlander had not gone on the injured list as an Astro. He suffered a lat strain during spring training and underwent groin surgery in March during the coronavirus shutdown, but only to repair wear and tear from a long career.
Verlander exited that operation with renewed vigor, revamping his delivery to put less stress on his body. Outings in the Astros’ three-week summer camp were dominant.
Baker gave him the baseball on opening day July 24 against the Mariners. Verlander fired six spectacular innings. After the sixth, he complained of soreness, prompting the Astros to remove him from the game.
On July 26, the Chronicle reported that Verlander was out of for the season with an elbow injury. Verlander denied that report in a tweet, but he was never made available to discuss his status. The Astros termed Verlander’s injury a “forearm strain.”
Click spoke in specifics about the injury for the first time Saturday.
He said Verlander’s MRI in July showed an inflamed flexor mass. Verlander rested for about three weeks. He played catch again on Aug. 17, beginning a slow build-up process with hopes for a late-season return. A simulated game Wednesday at Minute Maid Park offered the steepest hurdle.
One day prior, Click called his ace to map out the rest of the month. Verlander expressed optimism he could pitch Monday in Seattle against the Mariners.
“We had every expectation that, if things went well Wednesday, we’d be having a conversation of whether Monday was against Seattle in a major league game or whether it was going to be another sim game against hitters here before we jumped through that hoop,” Click said.
On Wednesday, Baker said Verlander threw 24 pitches against hitters and “looked real good.” But on Saturday, Click said Verlander sought another MRI after the simulated game that “showed differences from what we saw in July and changed the prognosis and diagnosis.”
“The consensus medical opinion was that this was a situation where Tommy John surgery was the absolutely right way to go at this point,” Click said.
No date has been set for Verlander’s operation.
“It definitely sucks not having our ace moving forward, but I believe in every single guy that’s in this clubhouse to get the job done,” shortstop Carlos Correa said. “We’re not going to have our ace, and that’s one of the best pitchers in the game. The news obviously hit hard, but we have to stay focused and get the job done.”
If Verlander has thrown his final pitch as an Astro, his place as one of the greatest players in franchise history is secured. Former general manager Jeff Luhnow acquired Verlander in a midnight deal on Aug. 31, 2017, to aid in the team’s World Series pursuit.
Verlander was the MVP of the American League Championship Series win against the Yankees, after which second baseman Jose Altuve giddily proclaimed, “I literally love Justin Verlander.”
The workhorse righthander started 74 games as an Astro and posted a 2.45 ERA. Verlander finished as runner-up for the American League Cy Young Award in 2018 before winning it last season. Verlander got his 3,000th strikeout and 200th win while wearing orange and blue.
In a two-run Astros win over the Blue Jays last September, Verlander threw his third career no-hitter. Only five other men have that many.
After it ended, third baseman Alex Bregman wondered aloud whether Verlander would wear an Astros cap during his eventual enshrinement in the Hall of Fame — a journey the pitcher remains confident is still far away.
“I’m confident that with a proper rehabilitation program and my unwavering commitment that this surgery will ultimately lengthen my career as opposed to shorten it,” Verlander wrote in a statement on Instagram. “I can’t thank my teammates, coaches, the front office and my fans enough for the support they have given me so far in this process. I’m eager to get through this recovery and back on the field to continue to do what I love.”