Getty Justin Verlander
The streaking Houston Astros got even more good news on Saturday, August 10, when Justin Verlander threw three innings for Triple-A Sugar Land in his first rehab start on his way back to the Major Leagues.
Verlander threw 52 pitches (36 strikes), giving up 1 run on 2 hits with 3 strikeouts and 2 walks. Astros manager Joe Espada reported that the 41-year-old was able to hit 95 on his fastball.
“Everything was positive, so hopefully we can get one more and then we can get him on the major-league level,” Espada told reporters before the Astros beat the Red Sox on Sunday. “It’s all about JV, depending how he feels for what he needs to get him back here to stay.”
Houston completed a three-game sweep of the Red Sox on Sunday, giving them five straight wins and a share of the American League West lead.
“Physically, I felt good,” Verlander told reporters in Sugar Land on Saturday. “Checked all the boxes I needed to today. I was able to throw everything, but execution wasn’t as good as I would like. I try not to be too nitpicky. Health is first and foremost, the hard thing with coming back on rehab starts is you don’t have as many starts to fine tune all your mechanics like we do in spring training. You have to be a bit critical in execution and try to get better next time out.”
The Astros Suddenly Look Like Themselves Again
The Astros opened the season getting swept in four games by the New York Yankees. By the end of April, they were 10-19, mired in last place in the AL West.
But baseball is a marathon. Over 162 games, the best teams tend to rise to the top, and the Astros now sit at 62-55 with a better-than 50 percent chance to win their division, per FanGraphs.
Even if the record still isn’t Astros-like and the Mariners are right on their tail, it feels like Houston is back to being Houston. Yordan Alvarez homered three times in the series against the Red Sox and Alex Bregman hit a career-long 441-foot homer on Sunday.
Overall, the Astros outscored the Red Sox 23-10 over three games. Rookie Spencer Arrighetti had the finest pitching performance of the weekend, going 7 innings and giving up 2 runs while striking out 13. He’s rung up 33 batters over his past three starts (19 innings). Combine that with Framber Valdez coming within an out of a no-hitter last time out, and the Houston rotation is showing some promise.
And a three-time Cy Young winner seems to be on his way back.
What Justin Verlander Can Contribute
Nineteen years into his Big League career and coming back from injury, it’s fair to wonder how effective Verlander will be when he returns. It’s also hard to project. Before his injury, he made 10 starts, pitching to a 3.95 ERA and striking out 51 in 57 innings.
If Verlander makes one more rehab start, it would put him on pace to return on Tuesday, August 20 against the Red Sox. That would give him seven starts to get ready for the postseason and build his arm back up. Considering he threw 52 pitches on Saturday, it would make sense for the Astros to cap him around 70-75 next time out and somewhere in the 90s when he returns to the rotation. From there, it’s off to the races.
It’s a promising sign that he touched 95 on his fastball on Saturday. He was averaging 93.5 mph with the pitch in his 10 starts before the injury. Still, his velocity has decreased slightly over the past few years — not that it has mattered much. As long as he finds his location over his next few outings, there’s no reason to think he won’t be a key part of the Houston rotation in October. Like always.
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