The Houston Astros refused to utter the words, knowing the pain, and perhaps the inevitability, of what it could mean to their season. Justin Verlander,…
The Houston 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 test revealing a strained forearm, will be sidelined at least two weeks and will be re-evaluated. Yet, 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.’’
Yet, 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 may 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.
