Verlander (neck) is scheduled to throw a bullpen session Saturday, Chandler Rome of The Athletic reports.
Saturday's session will be Verlander's third bullpen since being placed on the injured list June 18. The 41-year-old was stretched out to 40 pitches in his last bullpen and could be one or two more sessions away from returning. Once Verlander is activated, Jake Bloss would likely be pushed out of the rotation.
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Astros' Luis Garcia: Completes another bullpen
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Garcia (elbow) threw a 35-pitch bullpen Friday, Chandler Rome of The Athletic reports.
Garcia completed a 15-pitch bullpen Saturday and was able to jump up to 35 pitches in Friday's session. The right-hander could progress to facing live hitters soon before what's expected to be a lengthy minor-league rehab assignment.
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Astros' Mauricio Dubon: Idle Friday
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Dubon is out of the lineup for Friday's game against the Dodgers, Matt Kawahara of the Houston Chronicle reports.
Dubon has merely one hit in his last 20 at-bats and will take a seat for the fourth time in seven games. Joey Loperfido, Jake Meyers and Chas McCormick fill the outfield from left to right.
The Astros promoted Melton from Double-A Corpus Christi to Triple-A Sugar Land on Thursday, Chandler Rome of The Athletic reports.
Melton has slashed a rather pedestrian .248/.307/.443 with 10 home runs and 19 stolen bases over 58 games with Corpus Christi this season, although his production could have been hampered somewhat by a wrist injury he dealt with earlier in the year. The 23-year-old can play all three outfield spots and offers a fantasy-friendly skill set with some power and plenty of speed, although he'll probably have to wait until 2025 before he debuts in the majors.
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Astros' Jose Altuve: Strong performance against Oakland
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Altuve went 3-for-5 with a double, two RBI and two runs scored Wednesday against the Athletics.
Altuve did the majority of his damage in the seventh inning when he doubled in a run and then came around to score. He's come out of the All-Star break hitting well, collecting eight hits across 24 at-bats.
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Astros' Chas McCormick: Smacks fourth homer
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McCormick went 2-for-3 with a solo home run and two runs scored Wednesday against the Athletics.
McCormick went yard and also tallied his first multi-hit game since June 22. He has been stuck primarily in a small-side platoon role recently, with both Joey Loperfido and Trey Cabbage playing ahead of him against righties in the corner outfield spots.
Brown (9-6) earned the win Wednesday over the Athletics, allowing one run on eight hits and a walk over six innings. He struck out eight.
The lone run charged to Brown came in the first inning when the A's led off the game with back-to-back doubles. The right-hander would rebound to blank Oakland over his final five frames, earning a third straight win while logging his 11th quality start in his last 12 outings. After posting a 7.71 ERA through his first nine starts, Brown's pitched to a 2.09 ERA in his subsequent 12 appearances. Overall, his ERA sits at 4.00 with a 1.37 WHIP and 118:42 K:BB across 110.1 innings this season. Brown will look to keep rolling in his next outing, currently scheduled for early next week at home versus the Pirates.
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Astros' Joey Loperfido: Heading to bench Wednesday
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Loperfido is out of the lineup for Wednesday's game against the Athletics.
Loperfido will hit the bench for the third time in four games, giving way to Chas McCormick in right field. With Loperfido falling into an 0-for-15 slump at the plate over his last five games, the Astros have opted to scale back the rookie's playing time of late. Along with Chas McCormick, Trey Cabbage has also factored into the mix for starts in right field, where the Astros could continue to deploy a messy three-man committee until Kyle Tucker (shin) is ready to return from the 10-day injured list.
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Astros' Kyle Tucker: Expected back before September
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Astros general manager Dana Brown said Wednesday that he's "optimistic" Tucker (shin) will return from the 10-day injured list before September, Brian LaLima of SportsTalk 790 Houston reports.
The fact that September was even brought up as a potential return date Tucker speaks to how painfully slow he's proceeded through his rehab program for a right shin contusion, an injury he suffered June 3. Tucker has upped his on-field activities in recent days, but manager Joe Espada noted that the outfielder still doesn't have full strength in his leg, per Chandler Rome of The Athletic. On a positive note, Espada said Tucker has been feeling good during batting practice, but the 27-year-old will need to be able to play the outfield and run the bases without discomfort before he's ready to rejoin the big club.
Bloss (0-1) took the loss in Tuesday's game against the Athletics, allowing five runs on six hits and a walk while striking out five over four innings.
Bloss did not fare well against a hot Athletics lineup. He began by allowing a leadoff triple before Brent Rooker took him deep to put the Astros in an early 2-0 hole. Lawrence Butler was next to homer off him in the third before Seth Brown and Zack Gelof went back-to-back in the fourth. Bloss hasn't been able to cover more than four innings in any of his three starts since getting promoted just over a month ago and he'll likely see his time in the bigs temporarily come to an end next week once Justin Verlander (neck) returns from the injured list. Bloss has a 6.94 ERA, 1.63 WHIP and 11:3 K:BB in 11.2 innings.
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Astros' Victor Caratini: Swats solo home run
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Caratini went 2-for-4 with a solo home run in Tuesday's 8-2 loss to the Athletics.
Caratini put the Astros on the board in the third with a solo home run to right field off Osvaldo Bido. The long ball was his first hit since being activated off the injured list Monday after being out for just over a month with a strained left hip. The 30-year-old is slashing .257/.294/.459 with five homers, 18 RBI, 14 runs and a 5:16 BB:K in 119 plate appearances.
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Astros' Jeremy Pena: Goes deep in loss
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Pena went 3-for-4 with a solo home run, a double and a stolen base in Tuesday's loss to the Athletics.
Pena was the only Astros player with multiple extra-base hits in Tuesday's defeat. He doubled in the seventh and then added a solo home run in the ninth with the game well out of reach. The 26-year-old is riding a six-game hit streak during which he has recorded multiple hits three times. Pena also has homered in two of his past three games and has driven in a run in three of his last four. He's now slashing .282/.324/.403 with nine homers, 44 RBI, 49 runs, 12 steals and an 18:67 BB:K in 412 plate appearances.
Murfee (elbow) threw a bullpen session Tuesday in Oakland, Chandler Rome of The Athletic reports.
Murfee has been slowly working his way back all season from Tommy John surgery that he underwent last July. Manager Joe Espada said that the right-hander could throw one more bullpen session before beginning a minor-league rehab assignment. Murfee will likely need to make a series of appearances while on his rehab assignment, but if all goes well, he could make his return to the major-league roster at some point in mid-to-late August.
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Astros' Mauricio Dubon: Absent from lineup Tuesday
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Dubon isn't in the Astros' lineup Tuesday versus the Athletics.
Dubon did not play in consecutive games Friday and Saturday amidst an 0-for-10 slump before going 1-for-6 over the subsequent pair of contests. The outfielder will get the day off again Tuesday with Yordan Alvarez starting in left field and Yainer Diaz slotting as the designated hitter. Victor Caratini enters the lineup in Dubon's stead as the No. 8 hitter and draws a start at catcher.
