Verlander to debut Friday

HOUSTON » Houston Astros ace Justin Verlander w ill make his season debut Friday night at the Washington Nationals.

Houston manager Joe Espada made the announcement Wednesday.

“Getting him back is huge because it brings a level of confidence to our team, a boost of confidence that we’re going to get someone who’s been an MVP, a Cy Young ( winner) on t he mound,” Espada said. “It’s ( good) for the morale and to get stuff started and moving in the right direction.”

The three- time Cy Young Award winner opened the season on the injured list with inflammation in his right shoulder. He m ade two rehabilitation s tarts, the first for Triple- A Sugar Land on April 7 before Saturday’s start for Double- A Corpus Christi.

Espada wouldn’t say how many pitches t he 41- yearold would be limited to but said they’ll keep an eye on his workload.

“We’ve got to be careful how hard we push him early,” Espada said. “I know he’s going to want to go and stay out there and g ive us an opportunity to win, but we’ve got to be cautious of how hard we push him early in the season.”

Verlander wasn’t thrilled with the results in his rehabilitation starts, but he said Monday t hat those games were valuable in getting him prepared to come off the IL.

He allowed seven hits and six runs — five earned — in four innings against Frisco on Saturday. He struck out three, walked one and threw 51 of 77 pitches for strikes.

Verlander allowed six earned runs and struck out six while pitching into the fourth inning for Sugar Land on April 7.

The Astros h ave gotten off to a tough start with Verlander and fellow starters Framber Valdez and José Urquidy on the injured list. They enter Wednesday’ s games last in the AL West with a 6- 13 record.

Espada hopes Verlander can be the boost the team needs to get on track.

“It’s good to get him back in the rotation ,” Esp ada said.