When Will Justin Verlander Return and Be Back? Fantasy Baseball Injury Update

The Houston Astros nightmare season continues.

Houston sits at 33-39 on the season, six games under .500 and nine games behind the division-leading Seattle Mariners.

This team has endured a litany of injuries so far this season, and now they are dealing with yet another injury to the ace of their starting rotation, Justin Verlander.

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Justin Verlander Injury Update for Fantasy Baseball

Verlander was set to start on Saturday against the Detroit Tigers - the team he spent the first half of his career with. But he was a late scratch on Saturday due to "neck discomfort."

Justin Verlander was scratched from his start today pic.twitter.com/4skXvyd9tq

— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) June 15, 2024

The Astros had to push up rookie Spencer Arrighetti to start on four days rest and he got shelled for seven runs in less than two innings.

Verlander was reportedly able to play catch on Sunday and it sounds like the injury was minor and the skipped start may have just been precautionary.

Justin Verlander Fantasy Baseball Outlook

It's been an uneven 2024 campaign for the veteran right-hander Verlander. He missed several weeks to start the season and has posted pretty mediocre stats (at least by his standards) through his first ten starts.

His 3.95 ERA is deceiving, his FIP is 4.98 and he's allowed opponents a .427 wOBA this season. His strikeout numbers are down, too, which was a trend that we saw develop last season. Even in a down year, Verlander is easily the second or third-best option that Houston has in the rotation and they need him to stay healthy as they are without Cristian Javier for the rest of the season.

Framber Valdez will start tomorrow for the Astros in Chicago. Hunter Brown will go on Wednesday. The team is TBA for Thursday. GM Dana Brown hinted yesterday that Justin Verlander could pitch then

— Chandler Rome (@Chandler_Rome) June 17, 2024

It sounds as if Verlander could start as soon as Wednesday, but managers should keep a close eye on the situation. Avoiding a stint on the IL would be great, but keep expectations in check for JV as he simply isn't the pitcher this year that he once was.

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