Verlander made 10 starts to begin the season, but suffered a neck injury back in early June and has been on the shelf since. On Monday, manager Joe Espada said that Verlander will finally make his return on Wednesday, per The Athletic’s Chandler Rome.
In those 10 starts, Verlander threw 57 innings and posted a 4.99 FIP, 8.05 K/9, 2.58 BB/9 and 1.74 HR/9. The fastball averaged 93.8 mph and the swinging strike rate was 9.6%. It’s far from vintage Verlander, but he’s 41 years old and it’s better than many of the pitchers in the league.
In two rehab starts, Verlander allowed two earned runs in seven innings.
It will be interesting to see how Espada manages the starting rotation now with Verlander back in the mix. Framber Valdez is the ace and Yusei Kikuchi has pitched well since being acquired. Spencer Arrighetti allowed four earned runs in his most recent start but punched out 13 and 12 in the two prior starts. Hunter Brown has allowed a total of four earned runs in his last 18.1 innings and Ronel Blanco just blanked the Tampa Bay Rays over six innings.
No pitch count for Verlander has been announced for Wednesday’s start, but the team will likely bring him along slowly. The eventual goal is to get him ready for the playoffs.
On DraftKings Sportsbook, the Astros are -550 to win the AL West, +475 to win the AL (third-lowest odds), and +1000 to win the World Series (fifth-lowest odds).
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