Connect with us

Published

on

HOUSTON — Houston starters Cristian Javier and José Urquidy are both scheduled to have right elbow surgery, a big blow to an Astros team trying to rebound after a terrible start to the season.

General manager Dana Brown made the announcement Wednesday, saying Urquidy will have surgery Wednesday while Javier’s is set for Thursday.

“Right now, they are both having an elbow surgery,” Brown said. “We’re not sure to the extent of it, but Tommy John is certainly a possibility talking with both of them.”

Both players will miss the entire season and would miss part of next season if Tommy John surgery is needed, with the typical recovery from the ulnar collateral ligament replacement surgery taking 12-18 months.

Recovery from internal brace, which uses artificial material to make the repair, has allowed pitchers to return to the majors in as little as nine months.

The Astros already were dealing with injuries to their rotation, with starters Luis Garcia and Lance McCullers not pitching yet this season because of injuries and not expected to return until after the All-Star break.

But Brown said he believes the Astros’ rotation, which is led by Justin Verlander and Framber Valdez, will be just fine despite the injuries because Hunter Brown, Spencer Arrighetti and Ronel Blanco have filled in nicely.

“Losing Urquidy and Javier is tough, but thank God, we have the young kids stepping up and they’re starting to throw the ball well,” Brown said. “So I think our rotation’s pretty good right now. You never want to lose those type of arms, but there’s no panic because our guys are really throwing well.”

Houston, which has reached the AL Championship Series in each of the last seven seasons, entered Wednesday’s games in third place in the AL West with a 28-34 record.

Brown said the injuries won’t change how he approaches things leading up to the trade deadline on July 30.

“We’re always in the market for pitching because of reasons like this,” he said. “I’ve been in baseball for 34 years and I know how long and how tough the season is. It’s a grind of 162 and so we’re always in the market of claiming pitchers… and we’re always trying to add to the depth. And so it’s business as usual, we don’t wait until things fall apart before we find answers.”

Urquidy hasn’t pitched this season after straining his right forearm in spring training. He appeared close to coming off the injured list before he left a rehabilitation start for Triple-A Sugar Land with right elbow inflammation on May 24.

The 29-year-old had Tommy John surgery in 2017 and made his big league debut two years later. He was 3-3 with a 5.29 ERA in 10 starts and six relief appearances last season.

In five major league seasons, Urquidy is 27-16 with a 3.98 ERA in 70 starts and nine relief appearances.

Javier was 3-1 with a 3.89 ERA in seven starts for Houston this season. He was placed on the injured list with right forearm discomfort on May 24.

The 27-year-old is 33-18 with a 3.59 ERA in 116 career appearances with 82 starts over five MLB seasons.

Continue Reading

Sports

Coach: Canes must be smarter about retaliation

Published

on

By

Coach: Canes must be smarter about retaliation

RALEIGH — Carolina Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour said his players have to be smarter about retaliating against the Florida Panthers‘ trademark agitation.

“We know that’s how they do things,” he said on Wednesday, after Florida took a 1-0 lead in the Eastern Conference finals with a 5-2 win. “Find a way not to let that get to you. Stick to what is going to win us games.”

At issue for the Hurricanes in Game 1 was center Sebastian Aho‘s roughing penalty against Florida’s Anton Lundell at 6:59 of the first period, which negated a Carolina power play and led to Carter Verhaeghe scoring the first goal of the game on a Panthers’ power play. Aho took a swing at Lundell after the Panthers center cross-checked him. The referees whistled the retaliation but not the initial stickwork that provoked it.

“I mean, the first penalty is bad call, right? You’re going to have those. But that’s my thing: Retaliation penalties are not going to get it done,” Brind’Amour said. “We did a pretty good job with [retaliation], but it just takes one. That’s my point. You can’t have that one, because that really puts you behind the game and now it’s different.”

The Hurricanes are 5-0 when scoring first in the playoffs and 3-3 when they don’t. Carolina’s penalty kill had stopped 14 of 15 power plays at home and 28 of 30 overall in the playoffs until Game 1, when Florida went 2-for-3 with the man advantage.

“They made us pay. It’s a good team that knows how to score goals and finds way to win games when you make mistakes,” Carolina captain Jordan Staal said. “We’ve got to limit those mistakes.”

Another example of the Hurricanes’ retaliation, though a less costly one for Carolina, came in the third period when defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere deliberately shot a puck at Florida forward Brad Marchand. In this case, the Panthers got the worst of it, as Marchand was given a double minor for roughing and a 10-minute misconduct.

“Just heated. I was pretty pissed off. He tried to take a run at me. I shot the puck at him. We had a little [tussle],” Gostisbehere said.

After Game 1, neither Panthers players nor coach Paul Maurice would discuss the incident in detail.

“It happens. It’s what it is. I mean, we block shots all the time, so what’s the difference?” Panthers defenseman Aaron Ekblad said.

That attitude extends to the Panthers’ composure on the ice. While the Panthers have earned their reputation as an irritating, physical opponent — attributes that helped them win the Stanley Cup for the first time last season — they can dish it out and take it.

Look no further than the Florida crease in Game 1, where the Hurricanes crashed the net of goalie Sergei Bobrovsky with frequency. At one point, forward Andrei Svechnikov‘s hip collided with Bobrovsky’s head. But the goalie wasn’t knocked off his game and his team didn’t retaliate.

“It’s OK. It’s the playoffs. They try to get under the skin. I just focus on my things and try not to think about that,” Bobrovsky said after his Game 1 win.

Maurice praised his netminder’s composure.

“Sergei’s not a kid. He’s been through it. He’s been bumped. He’s just developed a skill set that it just doesn’t bother him,” the coach said. “No one likes getting elbowed in the head, but it won’t be the first time or the last time.”

Game 2 of the Eastern Conference finals is Thursday night in Raleigh. The Hurricanes have now lost 13 straight games in that round of the playoffs, including five straight to the Panthers.

Continue Reading

Sports

Ex-MLB All-Star Segura retires after 12 seasons

Published

on

By

Ex-MLB All-Star Segura retires after 12 seasons

PHILADELPHIA — Jean Segura, a two-time All-Star infielder who hit .281 in a 12-year major league career with six teams, announced his retirement.

Segura’s announcement was made on social media Wednesday by his agent, CAA Sports, and the Philadelphia Phillies, for whom he played from 2019-22.

The 35-year-old Segura last played in the major leagues in 2023, with the Miami Marlins.

He was an All-Star in 2013 with the Milwaukee Brewers and 2018 with the Seattle Mariners. Segura led the National League with 203 hits in 2016, while with the Arizona Diamondbacks.

He also played for the Los Angeles Angels. He lone postseason appearance was in 2022, with the Phillies.

He finished his career with 1,545 hits, 513 RBI, 110 home runs and 211 stolen bases in 1,413 games.

Continue Reading

Sports

Giants to place Verlander (pec) on 15-day IL

Published

on

By

Giants to place Verlander (pec) on 15-day IL

San Francisco Giants right-hander Justin Verlander will be placed on the 15-day injured list due to a right pectoral injury, manager Bob Melvin said after Wednesday’s 8-4 loss to the Kansas City Royals.

The decision was reached after Verlander threw on the side Wednesday. During the session, it became apparent to Verlander that he wouldn’t be able to make his scheduled start against the host Washington Nationals on Saturday and might not make his following turn.

“They’re saying, ‘give yourself a blow. Take the 15 days and let’s get this behind you and be ready to go,'” Verlander said of the Giants.

San Francisco is hopeful Verlander will only be sidelined for a short time.

“He’ll end up missing two starts and then I think everything will be good,” Melvin said. “He’s obviously not happy about it because he wants to make every start but it was the prudent thing to do.”

The tricky part of forecasting is that Verlander is experiencing nerve irritation in the pectoral muscle. The 42-year-old insisted it’s not related to the neck injury he sustained in June of last season with the Houston Astros that led to him missing more than two months.

Verlander is winless in 10 starts with the Giants and struggled in Sunday’s outing against the visiting Athletics.

Verlander had velocity and command issues in four innings against the Athletics and issued a season-worst five walks. He allowed two runs, three hits and struck out one.

“There are always things you’re pushing through,” Verlander said while referring to the Sunday outing. “It’s always difficult to be 100 percent in this game. It was one of those things where I thought I was going to be just fine. Then I go out there and start throwing, look up (at the scoreboard) after the first pitch and see 90-91, and I thought, ‘Oh, boy. Gonna be a tough day.'”

Verlander is 0-3 with a 4.33 ERA in his first campaign with San Francisco. He has struck out 41 and walked 21 in 52 innings.

The three-time American League Cy Young Award winner and 2011 AL MVP is in his 20th big league season. A nine-time All-Star, Verlander is 262-150 with a 3.31 ERA in 536 career starts.

Melvin said it was too soon to make a decision on who will start Saturday’s game.

Continue Reading

Trending