Houston Astros' Ace Has Concerning Comments About Opening Day Availability
Coming into the season, there was a ton of excitement surrounding the Houston Astros after scraping together a very solid offseason after it looked like their roster might regress.
With star players already present, they expect to contend each and every year.
Unfortunately, things might be off to a rocky start before it even begins after Justin Verlander came into Spring Training behind schedule from rehabbing a shoulder injury.
His Opening Day availability is in real doubt.
The comments he made also didn't bring much confidence to the thought he'll be ready for the first start of the year either.
"Obviously, it's tight, but things are progressing. It's kind of like the same as I’m doing with my rehab right now -- day by day. We're not even looking a week out or two weeks out, and it’s hard to forecast anything past that," he said according to Brian McTaggart of MLB.com.
That certainly doesn't shut down the possibility of him making the Opening Day start.
But based on the latter part of his statement, it doesn't feel like the Astros should expect Verlander to be available.
McTaggart notes that the ace is throwing in the bullpen every three days and is coming out of those sessions feeling well, a positive sign for his recovery.
However, the 41-year-old will likely also have to face live batters soon if he wants to be back for Opening Day.
Without a return date in sight, it's tough to project if Verlander will be able to get those live reps in a Spring Training game this year.
And while missing the first start of the season doesn't necessarily feel like a huge deal, this could also change the order of their rotation with Verlander slotted into a different spot.
Houston plays 19 games in 21 days to get things started.
If their ace is unable to start the opener, there could be more ramifications to that then just missing a single game.
