Astros Injury Updates: Justin Verlander timeline, Kyle Tucker, Jake Bloss

The Houston Astros have remained quite busy in trying to keep their roster in a good place. The Astros made a handful of roster moves over the weekend to cycle in some fresh arms and to account for yet another injury (more on that in a bit), but Houston fans are anxious to hear how some of the big names who are on the shelf are doing.

The short version is that fans shouldn't necessarily expect anyone to make their triumphant return this week, there was a good bit of positive injury updates coming out of the weekend.

Astros News: Justin Verlander is improving, but still no timeline to return

Verlander's neck injury has been a tough one to project as "neck stiffness" could mean a wide range of things. That the team and Verlander have continued to just call it neck stiffness is a positive as a more serious issue probably would have been revealed by now.

Actual details on Verlander's recovery have been scant, but what we do know is that Verlander has said that the issue was improving, but he also still isn't throwing. Houston is obviously going to be careful with Verlander especially at this stage of his career and, unfortunately, that means we still don't have a timetable as to when he could return or how long of a rehab assignment he is going to need.

Astros News: Joey Loperfido could see regular playing time even after Kyle Tucker returns

Much of the optimism that came right after Kyle Tucker fouled a ball off his shin is gone now. The Astros knew he hadn't broken anything, but the team still placed him on the injured list as the contusion was bad enough to limit him drastically. The latest word is that Tucker is still not doing baseball activities and has been limited to running on a treadmill, so it may still be a little while before he returns.

The silver lining here is that Tucker's absence is likely to make getting Joey Loperfido playing time a lot easier. Houston had been shuffling Loperfido back and forth to the minors this year, but his latest call-up appears likely to stick now, especially with Tucker's status up in the air. Even when Tucker returns, Jon Singleton has not played well lately at first and Chas McCormick has been hit-and-miss at best. Assuming he continues to play well, Houston fans can probably expect to see Loeprfido in the lineup regularly somewhere.

Astros News: Jake Bloss avoids structural damage, but will probably be on the IL for a while

Jake Bloss' big league debut caught everyone by surprise, but Houston clearly liked what they saw out of him down at Double-A and have been in desperate need of rotation reinforcements after Verlander's injury, along with season-ending surgeries for Cristian Javier and Jose Urquidy. Unfortunately, Bloss' debut was cut short as he was forced to leave the game early with a shoulder injury in the fourth inning.

An exam by the Astros' medical team revealed Bloss suffered no structural damage, which was great news as shoulder injuries are incredibly difficult to bounce back from. However, It is probably safe to guess that Bloss will be out for a while, as even shoulder inflammation will often keep pitchers out for a month-plus. This will add even more urgency the Houston's trade deadline plans.

More Astros News from Climbing Tal's Hill