MLB News: Latest Buzz on Justin Verlander, Corey Kluber, More Injuries

The Houston Astros' hopes of contending for a World Series were dashed a bit Sunday with the news of Justin Verlander's injury.

The reigning AL Cy Young Award winner was diagnosed with a forearm strain that could force him to miss a good chunk of the 60-game season.

Astros manager Dusty Baker stated that Verlander "will be shut down for a couple of weeks," per USA Today's Bob Nightengale.

In an update on Twitter Sunday night, Verlander said he is not ruled out of the entire season, and he is "hopeful that with some rest it will heal and I'll be able to return soon." 

In a normal 162-game season, Verlander missing a few weeks would not be a major issue since the Astros would have more freedom to work on rotation fixes. 

With each game carrying more than double the weight it usually does, Houston can't afford to struggle on the mound for three or four days, yet alone three-to-four weeks. 

Verlander was supposed to anchor a staff with a handful of other strong arms, including Zack Greinke, Lance McCullers Jr. and Jose Urquidy.

At the moment, Greinke and McCullers are the only two of that group active. Urquidy is on the 10-day injured list.

That places Josh James, Framber Valdez and other inexperienced hurlers into larger roles in the Houston rotation. 

Pitching prospect Forrest Whitley could be one of the arms called up from the Round Rock training site, but he needs to improve on a 3-7 record in the minors in 2019 to make an impact. 

The back end of Houston's rotation will be tested immediately with two games against the Los Angeles Dodgers Tuesday and Wednesday, but the schedule gets easier with the Los Angeles Angels and Arizona Diamondbacks up after that. 

If the fill-in starters gain confidence from those two series, the Astros could be in better shape heading into a three-game set in Oakland that starts August 7.

While their contender status may be affected, the Astros may still be in good shape to make the playoffs since eight teams will qualify in each league.

Corey Kluber Leaves Rangers Debut After 1 Inning

Unfortunately, the Astros are not the only American League West ball club dealing with an injury to a key pitcher.

Corey Kluber was removed from his Texas Rangers debut after the first inning because of "tightness in the back of his right shoulder", per Rangers executive vice president of communications John Blake. 

Kluber was acquired in a trade with Cleveland in December, but that came with a risk since he dealt with injury issues throughout the 2019 campaign. 

The right-handed hurler has pitched 36.2 innings since he hit the 20-win mark for the first time in his career in 2018.

Rangers outfielder Joey Gallo said that losing Kluber for a significant amount of time would hurt the squad, per Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News.

"Obviously, we don't know what the situation is," Gallo said. "But to lose him would be a huge loss; I'm not going to sugarcoat it. We've got a lot of guys we believe in, and we're going to trust them, but to say losing Kluber wouldn't be a huge loss would be a lie."

Kluber was brought in to help clean up a poor pitching season in which the Rangers had a 5.06 staff ERA, which was the seventh-worst mark in MLB.

Texas has a pair of veteran arms in Mike Minor and Lance Lynn to navigate the team through however long Kluber's injury layoff will be. 

Joe Palumbo entered for Kluber Sunday, and he could be inserted into the rotation, but he may be able to go four or five innings at best. 

The good news for Texas is it faces Arizona and San Francisco in the next five games, which could allow its staff to gain more confidence.

But the timing of the Kluber injury hurts more with Verlander sidelined since that could have opened a door for Texas to pounce in the AL West with Kluber, Minor and Lynn at the top of the rotation.

Ken Giles To Get MRI On Elbow

Toronto has a concern in its bullpen over the status of closer Ken Giles.

Blue Jays manager Charlie Montoyo told Sportsnet's Shi Davidi that Giles "will get an MRI to determine severity of the soreness in his right elbow." 

Giles, who dealt with elbow issues in 2019, was removed from Sunday's contest with the Tampa Bay Rays in the ninth inning. 

Even though he dealt with injuries last season, the closer produced a 1.87 ERA and 23 saves. If the injury is not serious, he could return to put up similar totals in 2020.

Brian Moran and Shun Yamaguchi followed Giles on the mound Sunday, but neither could preserve the lead Toronto had. 

Losing Giles for an extended period would hurt any chances of the Blue Jays contending for a playoff spot, and it would also decrease his potential trade value. He will be an unrestricted free agent this offseason and may have been a trade target for a contender needing bullpen help.

Follow Joe on Twitter, @JTansey90

Statistics obtained from Baseball Reference