Houston Astros Star Pitcher 'Super Positive' After Important Recovery Step

The Houston Astros could be getting their ace back soon as he works towards making it for Opening Day.

With Opening Day a little under a month away, there is already a question about who will be the starting pitcher for the Houston Astros when they welcome in the New York Yankees on March 28.

If everyone was healthy, then Justin Verlander would get that nod.

However, that is not the case.

The Astros ace came into camp dealing with a shoulder injury that caused him to be a couple weeks behind schedule. This has put into question his availability for Opening Day, and the start of the year.

Considering Verlander is 41 years old, Houston likely doesn't want to rush anything with this process as that could risk him being out for a longer period of time and when the games matter most.

He cleared an important step on Sunday when he threw 60 pitches in a bullpen session that should get him closer to facing live batters for the first time.

"I saw an upbeat J.V., super positive, really liked the way he felt. Even from pitch No. 1 to pitch 60, he felt really good ... Hopefully, he's there where we can move forward and start scheduling a live BP," manager Joe Espada said according to Brian McTaggart of MLB.com.

Getting to that live action is important in having their ace available for Opening Day.

The longer Verlander goes without facing live batters, then the more difficult it will be for him to be ready.

The star pitcher knows that and so does the organization.

How he feels on Monday is going to determine a lot about what happens next, because if he's feeling good, the Astros likely will start scheduling some time to face live hitters, but if he's sore, he's probably not appearing in the first series of the year.