AL West Notes: Tucker, Verlander, Bloss, Woo, Jung

Astros supervisor Joe Espada supplied a disappointing, if not completely shocking, damage replace relating to two of his greatest stars. Chatting with reporters (together with Matt Kawahara of the Houston Chronicle) forward of at present’s contest in Toronto, the skipper acknowledged that neither Kyle Tucker nor Justin Verlander is prone to return from the IL earlier than the All-Star break.

Tucker has not performed since June 3 as he nurses a proper shin contusion he suffered when he fouled a ball off his leg. In mid-June, Espada advised that Tucker would seemingly require a minor league rehab task. With the All-Star break quick approaching and the outfielder but to start any on-field work (per Kawahara), it’s onerous to think about he makes it again earlier than the break. The Astros would absolutely prefer to have Tucker again as quickly as potential, however they’ve performed surprisingly effectively of their finest hitter’s absence. Ensuring that he’s wholesome for the stretch run is extra necessary than dashing him again in July.

In the meantime, Verlander has not pitched since June 9; he’s coping with neck discomfort. He’s progressing effectively, however Espada says the longer term Corridor of Famer has not but gotten again to throwing off a mound. As soon as once more, the Astros may definitely use the veteran of their injury-plagued rotation ASAP, however dashing him again could be a shortsighted transfer with a lot season left to play.

One other focal point regarding Verlander: As Kawahara notes, it’s now extraordinarily unlikely that his conditional $35MM participant choice for 2025 shall be triggered. Even when the 41-year-old had been to return instantly after the All-Star break and pitch as soon as each 5 video games for the remainder of the season, he would want to common 6 1/3 innings per begin to attain the mandatory 140 innings pitched.

Lastly, Espada additionally talked about that rookie Jake Bloss will make a rehab begin this weekend. Barring any setbacks, the younger righty may make his subsequent begin in Houston. Bloss, 23, is usually thought of one of many Astros’ higher pitching prospects. He landed on the IL with shoulder discomfort on June 21, the identical day that he made his MLB debut.

Extra damage updates from across the AL West:

• Rangers supervisor Bruce Bochy supplied reporters an replace on Josh Jung, who has been on the IL virtually all season. The All-Star third baseman fractured his wrist on a hit-by-pitch on April 1. Jung has not too long ago been nursing a flare-up of discomfort in his injured wrist and has not swung a bat since his final rehab sport on June 20 (per Kennedi Landry of MLB.com). Nonetheless, he has no additional structural injury. The Rangers are going to close him down utterly for one more week, after which they hope he’ll be capable of restart his rehab task (per Jeff Wilson of Rangers Today). For sure, this implies Jung is not going to be able to return to Arlington earlier than the All-Star break.
• In additional constructive information, the Mariners aren’t able to rule out the chance that Bryan Woo may return to their rotation forward of the Midsummer Traditional. He threw a profitable bullpen session on Wednesday (per Daniel Kramer of MLB.com) and can make a rehab begin this weekend. If all goes effectively in that outing, there’s an opportunity he may make his subsequent begin for Seattle. Woo, 24, has pitched exceptionally effectively in his sophomore season, with a 1.77 ERA in eight begins. Not all of his underlying numbers are fairly as eye-catching (4.01 SIERA, 3.96 xFIP), however there’s little doubt the Mariners want to have the younger hurler again as quickly as potential to see extra of what he’s able to.