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The Houston Astros have updates on a pair of players that have been dealing with recent injuries, the most notable of which is a pitcher they were counting on for the starting rotation.
Jose Urquidy has now undergone all of the medical examinations necessary for the Astros to craft a play for his recovery.
The good news is that Urquidy has no damage to the UCL of his throwing arm, something that could be a precursor to Tommy John surgery. With two pitchers working to return from major injuries this season in Lance McCullers Jr. and Luis Garcia, the Astros could ill-afford another one.
The Astros also swung and missed on two-time Cy Young winner Blake Snell, who is joining the San Francisco Giants.
Urquidy told The Athletic and other outlets that he has inflammation in his right forearm and will rest for the next 10-15 days, assuring that he will start the season on the injured list.
Astros manager Joe Espada said that Urquidy won’t throw “for a while.”
Urquidy isn’t the only starting pitcher who won’t be ready Opening Day. The Astros will be without Justin Verlander, who is still stretching himself out after showing up at spring training with a shoulder issue. He could face hitters soon.
Espada provided one more injury update on infielder Grae Kessinger. He strained a hamstring in a recent spring training game and was evaluated shortly after leaving the game.
He said that Kessinger reported to the team’s facility in West Palm Beach, Fla., “sore” and won’t work out for a few days.
The Houston Astros face their season opener at Minute Maid Park on March 28 against the New York Yankees. The Astros will throw Framber Valdez against the Yankees’ Nestor Cortes, as former Astros starter and current AL Cy Young winner Gerrit Cole is out with an injury.
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Mets' Pete Alonso addresses uncertain future amid club's collapse
For the second straight year, first baseman Pete Alonso made what may go down as the final regular-season appearance at Citi Field of his New York Mets career on Sunday as the club suffered a 3-2 loss to the Washington Nationals that left the Amazins no longer in control of their own path to the playoffs. Following that result, Alonso spoke openly about his unsettled future. Pete Alonso confident the "right thing" will happen this offseason "We’ll see what happens, but I am a firm believer that the right thing is going to happen," Alonso said, as shared by Mike Puma of the New York Post. The market for Alonso's services never materialized as he and agent Scott Boras had hoped following the 2024 season. In fact, it seemed in late January of this year that Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns had little interest in giving Alonso a multi-year deal until Stearns and Mets owner Steve Cohen heard directly from fans who made it known that they wanted the club to hold onto the "Polar Bear." In the end, Cohen and Alonso agreed to a two-year, $54M contract with a player opt-out after this season. The 30-year-old slugger is widely expected to test free agency this coming fall considering what he's achieved this season. According to ESPN stats, Alonso began ranks second in all of MLB with 122 RBI on the season, eighth with 37 home runs and ninth with an .876 OPS. Does Pete Alonso want to stay with Mets? "This place has been really special to me," Alonso said about his only MLB home since his big-league debut in 2019. "The fans are awesome, super passionate and really dedicated to this team." That said, it's unclear how much Cohen will be willing to spend on a right-handed power-hitting first baseman in his 30s after the Mets signed star outfielder Juan Soto to a 15-year, $765M contract that could exceed $800M total last offseason. Alonso could prove his worth to the Mets by carrying the club back to the postseason after it and the Cincinnati Reds ended the weekend tied in the standings for the final National League wild-card spot. The Reds own the tiebreaker over the Mets. "If I had a nickel for how many times everyone in this room has [talked about] that and I received it, I’d be really rich," Alonso added about the chatter regarding his future. "So, again, we’ll see what happens." Alonso and the 80-76 Mets will begin a massive three-game series at the 88-68 Chicago Cubs on Tuesday evening.
Raiders HC Pete Carroll unhappy with running game amid Ashton Jeanty's struggles
Ashton Jeanty is not having the start to his career the Las Vegas Raiders hoped he'd have when they took the star running back with the No. 6 pick in this year's draft. Jeanty carried the ball 17 times for 63 yards (3.7 yards per rush) in the Raiders' 41-24 loss to the Washington Commanders in Week 3. Jeanty is averaging 3.1 yards per rush this season, with 144 yards and one touchdown on the 1-2 Raiders. Not all of the issues are on the rookie. During his news conference on Monday, head coach Pete Carroll said the team needed to improve the running game to have success on offense. He suggested Las Vegas is doing all it can to run the ball with the talent they have on the offensive line. "We're working on some stuff," Carroll said of the offensive line. "We want to see (Jackson Powers-Johnson) come back to action and get back involved. "We have to in all phases of it. We've got to get off the football better and make more of the running game. "There's not enough happening there to act on the play-pass game, and we're just not getting enough. So we just got to keep working it. We got the guys we got." The Las Vegas Raiders need to fix the offensive line Despite a poor game by the offensive line, quarterback Geno Smith was effective on Sunday. He threw for 289 yards and three touchdowns. However, he was sacked five times for minus-28 yards. The offense was much better than it was in Week 2 when the Raiders scored nine points in a loss to the Los Angeles Chargers on "Monday Night Football." Still, the running game needs to be a threat, not only to help Smith and the passing attack, but to keep the defense off the field. The Raiders invested in the running game by drafting Jeanty with a first-round pick. So far, that pick has not paid off.
Rockets' Fred VanVleet suffers torn ACL, could miss entire season
Shams Charania of ESPN reported on Monday that Houston Rockets guard Fred VanVleet suffered a torn ACL, an injury that will potentially sideline him for the entirety of the 2025-26 NBA season. The Rockets signed VanVleet to a three-year $128.5 million contract in 2023, with the third year being a team option. At the beginning of this year’s offseason, Houston declined that option, and instead signed VanVleet to a new two-year $50 million contract with a player option in the second year. This gave the Rockets much-needed flexibility to restructure their cap and make a big splash by trading Jalen Green, Dillon Brooks, and picks to the Phoenix Suns for Kevin Durant. They also acquired Dorian Finney-Smith, Clint Capela and Josh Okogie to bolster their roster, while extending Jabari Smith Jr. and resigning Jae’Sean Tate, Aaron Holiday and Jeff Green. What to expect from the Houston Rockets without Fred VanVleet Houston seemed to have made all the right moves to set itself up as a true contender heading into the upcoming season, but now it already faces an extremely difficult hurdle ahead of training camps. VanVleet was the starting point guard for the Rockets over the past two years, with Jalen Green being the alternate primary ball-handler. With neither one suiting up for them this year, that leaves Holiday as their sole remaining point guard, a solid player, but a significant downgrade from where they expected to be. The Rockets will have to get creative from here to get the most value out of this season. That could mean shifting Amen Thompson, their 6-foot-7 star prospect, down to be their primary ball-handler, though Thompson isn’t quite the offensive threat that VanVleet is. They could also opt to incorporate Reed Sheppard into the lineup more. Sheppard was the third overall pick in the 2024 draft, but didn’t see much playing time. He was also primarily positioned as a shooting guard when he did take the floor. If Houston isn’t satisfied with their in-house options, they may have to look to deal VanVleet out. His contract is easy enough to move from a cash perspective at $25M annually; however, other teams may need the Rockets to sweeten the deal, given that VanVleet won’t be able to contribute on the court this year, and will be going into his age-33 season the following year post-ACL injury. Last season, VanVleet averaged 14.1 points, 5.6 assists and 3.7 rebounds per game, his lowest in each category over the past six seasons. He did this on 37.8/34.5/81.0 shooting splits while playing 35.2 minutes per game. More than the stats, Houston also looked to VanVleet for his steady veteran presence, with him having previously won a championship with the Toronto Raptors in 2019. The Rockets have been thrust into a tough position heading into the season, but the timing of the injury may still leave them an opportunity to salvage it. Expect them to be active on the phones to evaluate the guard market, potentially looking at players like Anfernee Simons and Malik Monk.
Indiana Fever Star Kelsey Mitchell Reacts to Caitlin Clark’s Punishment Amid WNBA Playoffs
Following the Indiana Fever’s first-round upset over the Atlanta Dream on Sept. 18, Fever guard Caitlin Clark chimed in on an Instagram highlight of her bench celebrating the win, typing "Refs couldn’t stop us" and "Elite bench mob." The league office reportedly fined her $200 for the referee jab, a penalty Clark laughed off on X, tweeting, "Got fined $200 for this lol BENCH MOB WILL BE EVEN MORE ROWDY TOMORROW LET’S GOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!" On Monday’s "NBA Today," Clark's teammate, All-Star Kelsey Mitchell, spoke about the WNBA fine and Clark’s off-court personality. "I’m pretty sure somebody took care of it for her," Mitchell told ESPN. "People don’t know this about Caitlin, but she has an unbelievably funny sense of humor. The tweet was the tweet, but you have to know CC to know it’s just nothing but love. Her energy and her effort to support the team is her way of doing it." Through a roller-coaster 2025 season, Clark played just 13 games before a right groin injury on July 15 ended her season. In those outings, she averaged 16.5 points, 8.8 assists, 5.0 rebounds and 1.6 steals per contest. Now, Indiana enters Game 2 of its semifinal series against the Las Vegas Aces riding an 89–73 road victory that clinched Game 1, all with Clark sidelined. Mitchell poured in a playoff career-high 34 points on 12-of-23 shooting, while Odyssey Sims added 17 and Natasha Howard secured a 12-point, 11-rebound double-double in the upset win at Michelob ULTRA Arena. Indiana, a 24-20 team contending without its All-Star floor general, will again lean on its bench culture as it seeks the franchise’s first Finals berth since 2015. Game 2 tips Tuesday at 9:30 p.m. ET, with the Fever aiming to channel that same mob energy into a defining road sweep.
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