Verlander to start on four days’ rest
HOUSTON — Justin Verlander will pitch Sunday’s series finale against the Miami Marlins instead of Cristian Javier, who now will start Monday against the Texas Rangers.
The swap will give Verlander four days of rest between starts, the normal amount for a starter in a five-man rotation. The Astros have exercised caution with Verlander this season during his return from Tommy John surgery, including utilizing a sixman rotation to allow him an extra day of rest between starts.
Sunday will be Verlander’s third start of the season on normal rest. He threw a season-high 108 pitches and struck out 12 batters during his last outing Tuesday.
“It’s kind of a loose plan we set in place a couple months ago about getting Justin to throw on normal rest versus an extra day, even though we were in a six-man (rotation) for a while,” pitching coach Josh Miller said. “This is part of the progression to have him go on normal rest.”
Verlander boasts the lowest WHIP of any major league starter (0.837) and has a 2.13 ERA across his first 712⁄3 innings postsurgery.
“He hasn’t missed a beat,” Miller said. “He’s the same guy. He’s handled his work in between (starts) great. and the stuff from our medical department has been great.”
Mccullers is set to throw curves
Lance Mccullers Jr. could resume throwing curveballs as early as next week, marking another step in his comeback from flexor tendon injury
Mccullers threw a 25-pitch bullpen session before Friday’s game against the Marlins at Minute Maid Park. Mccullers said he touched 89 mph but mostly stayed around 87-88 as part of his buildup plan.
To this point, Mccullers has thrown only sinkers, cutters and changeups during his bullpen sessions. If he continues progressing well, Mccullers said he will start spinning curveballs off of flat ground — but not yet off the mound — within the next week. Sliders would come after curveballs.
“We’ve really tried to hone in, kind of like an offseason program, how I would progress in the offseason, just kind of sticking to that,” Mccullers
said. “We’re being a little more conservative, just because I’m coming off the injury, but this would be the time right before getting to (spring training), so I’d start working on the breaking ball.”
Mccullers will remain with the major league team during its next few road trips to continue his rehabilitation. An exact timeline for his return is still unclear, but it’s difficult to envision Mccullers contributing in any capacity before the All-star break.