Houston Astros: Justin Verlander is down and his team is out

After a strong opening day start, Justin Verlander dropped a bomb on the Astros and was shut down. Will they be able to survive the fallout?

While the MLB season is about to come to a screeching halt thanks to the first of what would be many outbreaks, the Astros season was already effectively cancelled. While he is denying it Astros fans should accept it…Justin Verlander is done for the season

Forearm strains are often a precursor to much more serious issues, and with Verlander’s age (37) and the mileage he’s already put on his arm it’s not a stretch to wonder what it will mean if it is a worst-case scenario. If there’s a tear in the forearm it may be the end of the road for Verlander.

Right now with no Peacock, Urquidy, or other reinforcements on the horizon Houston is in a tough spot. Rumor has it that Jim Deshaies, Brandon Backe, and Pete Harnisch are their next options. Who would have thought that building your rotation around two aging aces, an oft-injured Lance McCullers, and a bunch of wishes wouldn’t turn out well? If only there had been a GM to try and shore things up.

Dusty Baker is saying all the right things about reevaluating in a few weeks…but the season is only slightly longer than that. By then the Astros may not even be in contention and they will have to weigh the risk of Verlander REALLY blowing out his arm to finish a joke of a season anyway.  This is not an ideal scenario for anyone.

Shame on MLB for even creating this situation to begin with. Clayton Kershaw, Stephen Strasburg and Corey Kluber are all already injured as well.  I’m sure the shortened spring training right into full tilt games played a role in that. You also have Juan Soto missing games due to a positive test and the possibility the Marlins’ entire team is contaminated. Awesome job baseball of keeping the players safe, but at least the owners get some T.V. revenue, amirite?

Astros fans should be hoping the MLBPA wishes up and calls for this experiment to be aborted because the season is over either way in Houston. Better to pack it in and hope to try again next year. Hell, maybe they can add Roy Oswalt to the rotation and have three aces who are also members of the AARP.