Justin Verlander has groin surgery

Houston Astros pitcher Justin Verlander underwent surgery today for a groin issue, the team announced today. Verlander will be sidelined for six weeks, which would seem to be no big deal given that baseball likely will still be in a holding pattern in six weeks.

Verlander missed his first spring start due to a groin issue, and then had a lat issue that cut short his final start of the spring. It may be that being shut down for the lat problem and the Coronavirus crisis simply gave Verlander the opportunity to address the groin issue without missing any time. Of course, Verlander is also 37 years old, and it’s harder to keep a 37 year old body healthy.

The other thing that’s interesting to me, and that I’m kind of curious about, is where Verlander had the surgery, given many areas are urging that elective surgeries be delayed. If this was somewhere where the contagion level is low, then this probably doesn’t matter, but if it is in Houston, for example, the timing of the surgery is potentially questionable.