{"id":66704,"date":"2024-02-14T14:15:41","date_gmt":"2024-02-14T19:15:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/?p=66704"},"modified":"2024-02-14T14:15:41","modified_gmt":"2024-02-14T19:15:41","slug":"astros-injury-spring-training","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2024\/02\/14\/astros-injury-spring-training\/","title":{"rendered":"Astros Ace Behind Schedule Due to Shoulder Inflammation"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">It&#8217;s the start of spring training, and the Houston Astros already have bad news. Veteran right-hander\u00a0<\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/v\/verlaju01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-02-14_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Justin Verlander<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0said a shoulder issue has put him behind his throwing schedule by a few weeks. It could very well jeopardize his status for Opening Day. Verlander told reports Wednesday that he experienced a &#8220;little hiccup&#8221; in his pitching shoulder.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m a little bit behind schedule right now,&#8221; Verlander said. &#8220;I had a little hiccup early on that&#8217;s resolved itself. But I have to be really cautious on how I&#8217;m building up. I guess my body doesn&#8217;t respond the same at 40 as it did at 25.&#8221;<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-media-max-width=\"560\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Astros pitcher Justin Verlander on his \u201chiccup,\u201d which he says has resolved itself. He\u2019s a couple of weeks behind schedule. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/tqMajczi6F\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/tqMajczi6F<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Brian McTaggart (@brianmctaggart) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/brianmctaggart\/status\/1757775118770520483?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">February 14, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h2>Astros Verlander Being Cautious with Injury<\/h2>\n<p>The three-time Cy Young Award winner will be 41 next week. He also acknowledged that he is on a tight timeline and said he will prioritize rest.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I&#8217;ve always liked to give myself as much rest as possible, so my timeline is always a little tight,&#8221; he said. &#8220;I think that rest is important, so with the tight timeline and having to slow things down a little bit, put me a little behind.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Verlander, who was traded back to the Astros from the New York Mets, also experienced a delayed start last year.\u00a0<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">He didn&#8217;t debut until May 4, making 16 starts for New York <\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2023\/08\/01\/verlander-trade-astros-mets\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">before returning to Houston<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">. The injury concern is minor right now. However, it&#8217;s not the ideal situation Houston wants to be in,, as a couple of their rotation members are dealing with issues. The Astros will already be without <\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/search\/search.fcgi?pid=garcilu05,garcilu03,garcilu02,garcilu01,garcia034lui,garcia032lui,garcia030lui,garcia029lui,garcia028lui,garcia023lui,garcia022lui,garcia021lui&amp;search=Luis+Garc\u00eda&amp;utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-02-14_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Luis Garc\u00eda<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0and\u00a0<\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/m\/mcculla02.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-02-14_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Lance McCullers Jr.<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0to start the season, with both pitchers undergoing surgeries last year.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Without those two,\u00a0<\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2024\/02\/06\/projected-rotations-american-league\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Houston&#8217;s rotation is projected<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0to be Verlander,\u00a0<\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/v\/valdefr01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-02-14_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Framber Valdez<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">,\u00a0<\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/j\/javiecr01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-02-14_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Cristian Javier<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">, and\u00a0<\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/search\/search.fcgi?pid=brownhu01,brown-008hun,brown-006hun,brown-007hun,brown-004hun&amp;search=Hunter+Brown&amp;utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-02-14_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Hunter Brown<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><strong><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">J.P. France<\/span><\/strong><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0Dealing with Same Injury Issue<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Verlander isn&#8217;t alone in the injury department, as <\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/f\/francjp01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-02-14_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">J.P. France<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0is dealing with shoulder inflammation, too. France felt something in his shoulder in his final bullpen session before camp two weeks ago. There isn&#8217;t too much worry since both pitchers are playing catch.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We&#8217;re taking it day by day,&#8221; France said. &#8220;I&#8217;m not trying to push it too much, not trying to make a week&#8217;s worth of injury into months. We&#8217;re just taking it slow.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>France, who will be 29 in April, tossed 136 1\/3 innings last year with a 3.83 ERA, 17.4% strikeout rate, 8.1% walk rate, and a 42.8% ground ball rate. While he is not guaranteed a roster spot since he has options, he would have been a candidate to step up if Verlander needed to miss. Yet that could be in jeopardy if France misses time.<\/p>\n<p>Photo Credit: \u00a9 Sam Navarro-USA TODAY Sports<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It&#8217;s the start of spring training, and the Houston Astros already have bad news. Veteran right-hander\u00a0Justin Verlander\u00a0said a shoulder issue has put him behind his throwing schedule by a few weeks. It could very well jeopardize his status for Opening Day. Verlander told reports Wednesday that he experienced a &#8220;little hiccup&#8221; in his pitching shoulder. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3686,"featured_media":66705,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[14,2,1071,35],"tags":[2359,5519,6446,247,3912,3445],"class_list":["post-66704","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-astros","category-featured","category-mlb","category-news","tag-framber-valdez","tag-hunter-brown","tag-j-p-france","tag-justin-verlander","tag-lance-mccullers-jr","tag-luis-garcia"],"modified_by":"Matt Graves","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66704","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3686"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=66704"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66704\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/66705"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=66704"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=66704"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=66704"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}