Houston Astros Ace Could Be On Injured List If He Misses Thursday Start

The last thing the Houston Astros need is more bad news, but there’s a chance it could happen soon.

Their ace Justin Verlander was scratched upon departure last Saturday with “neck discomfort,” which isn’t too concerning during the long season, but certainly something that will make the team and fans take note given all the injuries they have suffered so far. .

With the added time off, the veteran was expected to return to the mound Thursday for a start against the Chicago White Sox.

However, nothing has been officially announced yet and manager Joe Espada made some worrying comments saying Verlander’s progress “was slower than expected,” according to Chandler Rome Athleticism.

This is never a good thing to hear.

With the ace being 41 years old, there was still cause for concern going into this season about how his body would hold up, which immediately posed a problem when he was placed on the roster. injured during spring training.

Although nothing has been determined yet, it is possible that if Verlander misses the start on Thursday, the Astros will likely put him back on the injured list.

“Joe basically said they were going to have to go on the IL if he couldn’t pitch on Thursday,” Rome added giving more context on this situation.

That would certainly complicate things for Houston this season.

The Astros would lose yet another starter, bringing their number of starting pitchers on the injured list to five, with Cristian Javier and Jose Urquidy already out for the year, and Luis Garcia and Lance McCullers Jr. still working the field . .

Losing Verlander would be a major blow to Houston’s hopes of being able to bounce back and put together a strong run over the summer to return to the postseason.

This could potentially force them into sellers, no matter how hard general manager Dana Brown tries to fight that.

Again, nothing is official, but any announcement regarding the ace’s availability on Thursday will have massive ramifications.