Verlander injury could hamper Astros’ hopes
The Astros refused to utter the words, knowing the pain, and perhaps the inevitability, of what it could mean to their season.
Justin Verlander, their Cy Young winner and future Hall of Famer, is out.
And they don’t know when he’ll be back.
Verlander, with an MRI scan revealing a strained forearm, will be sidelined for at least two weeks and will be reevaluated. He denied a Houston Chronicle report that he will be sidelined for the season’s duration.
“The report that I’m currently missing the rest of the season is not accurate,” Verlander tweeted. “There is a forearm strain. …I’m hopeful that with some rest it will heal and I’ll be able to return soon.”
With only a 60-game season, and needing to build up arm strength again if he’s even permitted to pick up a baseball, there might not be enough time to see him again this year.
“It’s tough,” Astros All-Star third baseman Alex Bregman said. “He’s a Cy Young. He’s a top-of-the-rotation guy. A top-of-the rotation teammate. A hard worker.
“We’re going to have to battle and some guys are going to have to step up.”
The Astros were supposed to be the team that benefited the most during this pandemic. They were the most hated team in baseball, exposed for stealing signs using video monitors, and the poster boys of cheating. The players were taunted and heavily booed in spring training, the media scrutiny was intense, and some of their biggest stars felt the emotional strain.
But with the pandemic shutting down the game, and baseball coming back with no fans, there would be no one to boo them. And with no reporters permitted in the clubhouse, no one to question them.
The Astros, even with losing Cy Young runner-up Gerrit Cole to free agency, still looked to be a monster, wanting to prove to the world they can win without stealing a single sign.
Then, the news of Verlander’s injury broke Sunday, and the Astros suddenly look the most vulnerable they’ve been since 2014, before they become a postseason regular.
“It’s not a very pleasant situation to think about Verlander,” Astros manager Dusty Baker said, “or to think about how many young players that we have in our bullpen and in our organization. We’ll go back to the drawing board and we’ll figure it out.”
Zack Greinke, who lasted just 31⁄3 innings and took the loss in his season debut Sunday, now becomes the ace of the staff. This is a guy who’s a former Cy Young winner but also is 36 years old and conceded after his performance that it will take a few more starts for him to get his rhythm.
The only optimism he displayed on his Zoom call was that he believed the Astros can withstand the loss of Verlander provided, though, he’s only gone a couple of weeks.
“Two weeks isn’t a big deal,” Greinke said. “Our team is really, really good, especially the offense. So I’m pretty confident we’ll be fine.”
Maybe, but the coldhearted facts are that the Astros suddenly are without the 41 victories, 435 1⁄3 innings and 626 strikeouts Verlander and Cole provided them last year.
The Astros now will be leaning heavily on Lance McCullers, who’s coming back from Tommy John surgery, along with young pitchers Josh James, Framber Valdez, Jose Urquidy, Forrest Whitley and Bryan Abreu.
Verlander was the latest injury to a star pitcher in the past week, raising questions as to whether the threeweek ramp-up was long enough for starting pitchers to prepare for the season. World Series MVP Stephen Strasburg was scratched before his start Saturday, while two-time Cy Young winner Corey Kluber left the Rangers’ game after one inning because of shoulder tightness.
Just a coincidence?
It’s hard to imagine.