Latest news on Justin Verlander goes from bad to worse for Astros
PLEASE, NO!
18 June 2024
PLEASE, NO!
Astros ace Justin Verlander missed his start over the weekend due to neck discomfort, which had many fans concerned. The last Houston pitcher (Cristian Javier) to miss time with the same injury would end up out for the season and having to undergo Tommy John surgery.
Fortunately, it doesn't look like that will be the case for JV, and the team didn't anticipate having to put Verlander on IR. They hoped he would be able to start Thursday's game in Chicago.
But manager Joe Espada told the Astros flagship station on Tuesday that his progress “is slower than we expected.”
Astros manager Joe Espada tells @SportsMT that Justin Verlander’s progress “is slower than we expected.” Thursday’s starter against the White Sox is still TBA.
— Chandler Rome (@Chandler_Rome) June 18, 2024
Fast-forward a few hours and JV is headed to the IL, with Nick Hernandez joining the club from Sugar Land.
Justin Verlander's 15-day IL stint is retroactive to Sunday. https://t.co/7Ys8eLvl6O
— Chandler Rome (@Chandler_Rome) June 18, 2024
Hopefully, this is just a short stint on the injured list for Verlander. Quite frankly, the Astros are running out of big league caliber starting pitching options.
One has to wonder, how many more injuries the team can sustain in 2024? The injury bug is biting hard, and the club is currently nine games behind Seattle in the AL West.
Up next
Framber Valdez takes the mound for Houston against the White Sox on Tuesday night.
The Athletic's Chandler Rome shares some possibilities the Astros might explore to replace Verlander in the post below.
The Astros could start Spencer Arrighetti on full rest Thursday against the White Sox. Blair Henley, who is on the 40-man roster, is scheduled to pitch for Triple-A on Thursday. Astros could call him up for a spot start or turn it into a bullpen game with Contreras/Hernandez
— Chandler Rome (@Chandler_Rome) June 18, 2024
LJ Cryer matched a career high with 30 points, including two free throws with 14.2 seconds left, and No. 1 seed Houston held on to beat eighth-seeded Gonzaga 81-76 on Saturday night to reach the Sweet 16 for the sixth straight NCAA Tournament.
J'Wan Roberts added 18 points and Milos Uzan made two last free throws with 2.1 seconds left, giving the Cougars (32-4) their 15th consecutive win and pushing them into a regional semifinal against No. 4 seed Purdue on Friday night in Indianapolis.
Houston also ended Gonzaga's run of nine straight Sweet 16s, which had been the longest active streak in the nation.
“It's not just winning the game," Cougars coach Kelvin Sampson said. "It's beating a great program like Gonzaga.”
The Bulldogs (26-9) trailed 76-67 with just over 2 minutes to go when Graham Ike made two free throws to start their comeback bid, and most of it wound up coming at the foul line. And when Uzan turned the ball over and Khalif Battle made two free throws of his own, the Bulldogs had pulled to 77-76 with 21 seconds remaining.
Houston got the ball to Cryer, who was fouled, and he made both of his free throws to extend the lead. At the other end, Ja'Vier Francis stuffed Battle's tying 3-point try from the corner, and Uzan knocked down his foul shots to seal the win.
“Gonzaga is as good as anyone we've played all year,” Sampson said. “Had they been seeded somewhere else, that's a team that could have had a chance to get to the Elite Eight, or maybe the Final Four. They're that good.”
Ike finished with 27 points for the Bulldogs. Battle scored 17 and Ryan Nembhard had 10 points and 11 assists.
“It ended up being just a great, great basketball game, especially the way our guys fought their way back into it. I'm so proud of the way they hung with it,” Gonzaga coach Mark Few said. “Houston was everything and more than we thought it would be.”
Given that no program has won more games than Gonzaga and Houston over the past eight seasons, it seemed as if their second-round matchup in the Midwest Region would have been better suited for the second weekend.
Or even the Final Four, where the Bulldogs and Cougars were on opposite sides of the bracket in 2021.
Yet for much of the game, Houston looked every bit deserving of its No. 1 seed and Gonzaga its spot at No. 8. The Cougars asserted their physical dominance on the perennial West Coast power, while Cryer — the Big 12 player of the year — poured in 16 first-half points to give Houston a 35-27 lead at the break.
Roberts, who sprained his ankle in last week's conference tournament, took over in the second half. The winningest player in Cougars history began bullying his way for baskets, and that allowed the Cougars to maintain their lead.
Gonzaga made one final run down the stretch but could never overtake them.
Gonzaga was second nationally in scoring at 86.7 points per game, and surpassed that in an 89-68 rout of Georgia in the first round. But the Bulldogs finished short of that mark against Houston's trademark defense.
Houston was able to rest its stars during a lopsided win over SIU Edwardsville on Thursday. Those fresh legs seemed to pay off in the closing minutes Saturday, when Gonzaga was trying to climb back into the game.
The Cougars will play the Boilermakers for a spot in the Elite Eight.