The first weekend of the Major League Baseball season started in a flurry with an injury of a future Hall of Famer and ended with 11 players and 2 coaches testing positive for COVID-19 from the Miami Marlins.

It was first reported that Justin Verlander was to be “shut down” for the remainder of the season with an apparent elbow injury but the assessment was considered premature when Verlander & the Houston Astros later claimed it’s a “forearm strain” that will sideline him for a “couple of weeks.”

Whether it’s an elbow or forearm strain, it doesn’t sound good for the 37-year old 2011 & 2109 Cy Young Award winner because these types of injuries can linger and eventually lead to Tommy John surgery, and since the 2020 season just began, it’s going to take time for Verlander to regain his arm strength if & when he’s able to return to game action.

The 8-time All Star, went into the season having thrown more innings than any active pitcher in baseball, 3,175â…” across the regular season and playoffs in his career, wasn’t expected to start the season back in March after undergoing groin surgery and having muscle soreness in his shoulder. Yet, with the season delayed four months, he was able to start opening day  and looked like the Verlander of old. He gave up 3 hits and 2 runs in 6 innings, striking out 7 in the Astros’ 8-2 victory over the Seattle Mariners.

This is a major blow to the Houston Astros since they lost another one of their Ace Starting Pitchers, free agent Garrit Cole  in the off-season to the New York Yankees and made him the highest-paid pitcher in the history of baseball with a 9-year contract worth $324 million. The Astros now will be leaning heavily on Lance McCullers who’s coming back from Tommy John surgery and Zack Greinke, along with young pitchers Josh James, Framber Valdez, Jose Urquidy, Forrest Whitley, and Bryan Abreu.

For those who don’t follow baseball, Justin Verlander is known in the celebrity world as married to American model and actress, Kate Upton’s husband.

In other news, Major League Baseball is already dealing with an outbreak after just a few days of the regular season. 11 out of the 33 players traveling with the Marlins’ party have tested positive for COVID-19. According to MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred. There’s no plans to cancel or suspend the season as a result of the Marlins’ COVID-19 outbreak. MLB owners completed their weekly call earlier today and cancellation wasn’t on the table. Manfred would have the final say regarding the viability of the season.

The Marlins’ situation is bad for a variety of reasons, but MLB is going to do their best to manage it for now. If the outbreak moves into another clubhouse, it’s hard to see how this continues. In the meantime, the Marlins team is still in Philadelphia and are waiting on more test results. Their home opener against the Baltimore Orioles in Miami has been cancelled for today, and don’t be surprised if tomorrow’s contest is cancelled too.

Photo Source: Justin Verlander    Wikepdia

Photo Credit    The Marlins    

Kate Upton Photo Credit Erik Drost

I did not have a good feeling with MLB moving forward like they did. There’s “no bubble” and too many states & cities are involved. If I were the comish of MLB, I would of had 2 or 3 bubbles (similar to what the NBA & NHL is trying to do) by keeping everyone within one place – the NBA is in Orlando Florida and the NHL is in Toronto Canada. The MLB? Is everywhere across the entire United States. That’s a BIG BUBBLE waiting to BURST!