Houston Astros officially place Justin Verlander on injured reserve

The bad news keeps coming for the Houston Astros.

After there was speculation Justin Verlander could be placed on injured reserve if he was unable to make his start on Thursday, it has now become official.

Chandler Rome Athleticism reports that the ace will now be moved to the 15-day injured list with what is described as “neck discomfort” retroactive to Sunday. Nick Hernandez was recalled from Triple-A to take his place.

This is brutal news for the Astros who have suffered serious pitching injuries throughout the season.

Most recently, Cristian Javier and Jose Urquidy were lost for the year, and with Verlander now missing time, that will force Houston to rely on inexperienced weapons that will put them in the position they are in now, where they have an uphill battle to make the playoffs.

For some time now, general manager Dana Brown has hinted that he would be a buyer at the trade deadline and would refuse to be a seller.

There’s a chance this will force their hand.

Pitching is a primary need for all competing teams, and due to their weak pipeline, there is a real possibility that they will be outbid for the best weapons on the market.

In the short term, this loss will certainly be felt.

Rookie Spencer Arrighetti is likely who they’ll turn to on Thursday because he’ll be able to pitch on full rest, or they could even turn this into a bullpen game.

What they do in the meantime, however, is uncertain.

There’s a chance they’ll have to recall Blair Henley who is already on their 40-man roster, but who was completely overpowered in his Major League debut where he allowed five earned runs in just 0.1 innings of work.