Verlander’s recovery slower than he wants

OAKLAND, Calif. — Astros ace Justin Verlander is “not progressing as quickly as he’d like” during his recovery from a forearm strain, Astros manager Dusty Baker said Saturday.

Two people with knowledge of the situation told the Chronicle that Verlander will not pitch again this season with an elbow injury. On July 26, Verlander called the report “not accurate,” but has not spoken about his prognosis or injury since then.

“Verlander, to my knowledge, is not progressing as quickly as he’d like to,” Baker said Saturday after a long pause. “But does he ever? Verlander wanted to pitch yesterday.”

Since the Chronicle’s initial report July 26, Baker and general manager

James Click have said Verlander will be shut down from throwing for “a few weeks” before being reevaluated.

Baker’s spoken numerous times during this road trip about “reinforcements” arriving to help the Astros at some point this season. He’s mentioned, by name, designated hitter Yordan Alvarez, utilityman Aledmys Diaz and righthander Jose

Urquidy — all of whom are rehabilitating at the Astros’ alternate training site in Corpus Christi

Baker has never grouped Verlander, the reigning American League Cy Young winner, in that number of “reinforcements.”

The team has termed Verlander’s injury a “right forearm strain,” In an interview with USA Today last week, owner Jim

Crane acknowledged Verlander’s injury was elbow-related and even hinted that Tommy John surgery is possible for the 37-year-old righthander.

“He’s hopeful, so we’ll see,” Crane told the newspaper. “But you never know with these elbows. It could be a slight tear. It could be a strain. But if he had to have Tommy John (surgery), and I don’t think that’s anywhere near clear yet, he wouldn’t be back until 2022.”

Verlander is only under Astros club control through the 2021 season.

Brantley reaches 10 years in MLB

Between two of the Astros’ most heartbreaking losses of the season, the team still had reason to celebrate. Michael

Brantley arrived into the visiting clubhouse at Oakland Coliseum on Friday to a locker surrounded by balloons. Josh Reddick hung signs on the wall next to his chair. Someone placed a nice “adult beverage” inside his cubby.

“Ten years is nothing to kind of sneeze at, it’s a great honor to be in this club,” Brantley said Saturday. “There’s a lot of hard work by a lot of great people to help me get there. They say 6 percent of major leaguers get to have this experience and I’m really appreciative of everyone who helped me to get here.”

By playing in Thursday’s 5-4 loss against the Diamondbacks, Brantley reached 10 years of major league service time. The accomplishment does not register much publicly, but within the tight-knit player community, it is one of the most meaningful milestones a player can attain.

Brantley entered the season with nine years and 131 days of major league service. A full year of service time is 172 days in the major leagues — whether a player is on the active roster or on the injured list.

Because the 2020 season is just 60 games, the league is prorating service time days accordingly. Brantley was unsure how that may alter his pursuit of 10 years, so he didn’t pay it much mind.

But last week, Brantley noticed D-backs outfielder

Jon Jay secure his 10 years. Jay, whom Brantley opposed in the minor leagues, entered the season with nine years and 134 days of service. Brantley then knew his milestone was near.

“I knew it’d be coming up soon,” said Brantley, the son of a former big leaguer who is lauded around the game for being a consummate professional, “but I was just trying to play baseball.”

Players who reach 10 years of service time become eligible for a full major league pension — one that can get up to around $200,000 by the time a player turns 62, according to ESPN, though there are more meaningful aspects to this than the financial security.

It offers them a time to reflect on their career arc and the sometimes circuitous path to professional ball. Brantley was the Brewers’ seventh-round pick in the 2005 draft and involved in one of the biggest trades of the 2008 season — the six-player swap that landed Milwaukee CC Sabathia.

Brantley played his first 10 years in Cleveland before signing a two-year deal with Houston last winter. He garnered four All-Star appearances as an Indian, but also combated numerous injuries.

“At times, (it’s gone) fast and slow. But at the same time, all the hard work I put in through the injuries I’ve had in the course of my career, all the hard work that my family endured with me, through pain and struggle, all the good and bad, they were there for me,” Brantley said.

“As I sit back and think about it now, it was a journey. It was a long one. And without their support, I don’t know if I would have made it. I’m just so appreciative of them sticking by me through all of it.”

Chandler Rome