Astros ace Justin Verlander will throw a side session Tuesday, and if that goes well he'll make his season debut this weekend against the Washington Nationals.

Houston manager Joe Espada made the announcement Monday but wouldn't say which game of the series Verlander would start. The three-game set begins Friday night.

"He's in a good spot," Espada said. "He feels good. He feels confident. He wants to contribute. He knows that we need him on the mound, we need his presence and right now and he's right where he needs to be."

Houston Astros ace Justin Verlander pitched four innings Saturday night for Double-A Corpus Christi in what is expected to be his final minor league rehab outing before rejoining the major-league rotation.

The three-time Cy Young Award winner gave up six runs -- five earned -- and seven hits against the Frisco RoughRiders, a Texas Rangers affiliate. He struck out three, walked one and threw 51 of 77 pitches for strikes.

The 41-year-old Verlander opened the season on the injured list with inflammation in his right shoulder.

The Houston Astros are promoting pitching prospect Spencer Arrighetti, according to a report.

The right-hander is expected to make his Major League debut on Wednesday night against the Kansas City Royals.

Houston drafted Arrighetti in the sixth round of the 2021 draft out of the University of Louisiana. 

The Houston Astros have placed Framber Valdez on the injured list because of elbow soreness.

Houston is hoping Valdez will miss just a few starts.

"He's going to need some time to recover," Joe Espada said. "We'll watch the inflammation to see how quickly that comes down. Hopefully it could just be maybe two starts and we'll get him back on the mound."

Valdez was scratched from his scheduled start, returned to Houston on Monday night and was diagnosed with inflammation on top of the elbow.

"I didn't get any news on the ligament, just inflammation in that elbow," Espada said. "We'll see where he's at in a day or two. We can get him back throwing and then we can assess how quickly we can get him back going. I think that's pretty decent news."

Framber Valdez was scratched from his scheduled start against the Texas Rangers on Monday night because of left elbow soreness.

The Houston Astros said Valdez played catch Sunday and reported soreness in the elbow.

The 30-year-old was sent back to Houston for further evaluation, but the club hasn't placed him on the injured list.

"We just want to see what the doctor says," manager Joe Espada said. "And we'll go from there."

Justin Verlander allowed six runs and struck out six in his first rehab start for the Houston Astros' Triple-A Sugar Land Space Cowboys.

Verlander, 41, threw 46 of 65 pitches for strikes against Oakland's Las Vegas Aviators. 

He began this season on the 15-day injured list with inflammation in his right shoulder.

"I did accomplish my No. 1 goal, which was to throw 65 pitches and feel healthy," Verlander said. "In an ideal world, you go out there and the timing is right, and everything is where you want it to be, but it's not super realistic. My timing was a little off, so my pitches were a little erratic. Time on the mound is the only thing that can help resolve that."

Justin Verlander is scheduled to make his first rehabilitation start at Triple-A Sugar Land on Sunday.

Verlander, 41, who opened the season on the injured list with inflammation in his right shoulder, will throw a bullpen session Thursday in Houston before making his start this weekend.

Houston Astros manager Joe Espada said Wednesday he expects this to be the first of two minor league starts Verlander will make before he comes off the injured list.

Verlander went 13-8 with a 3.22 ERA in 27 starts for the New York Mets and Astros last season.

Ronel Blanco, making his first start of the season, baffled the Toronto Blue Jays on Monday night, pitching a no-hitter in the Houston Astros' 10-0 victory.

Blanco, coming off a modest 2-1 season in which he finished with a 4.50 ERA, ignited an Astros' club that was coming off a four-game sweep at the hands of the New York Yankees, giving Houston its first victory of the season and Major League Baseball its first no-hitter of the year. He threw 105 pitches, posting seven strikeouts along the way, with just two walks.

Houston Astros general manager Dana Brown says that while the front office won't rule out adding a starting pitcher, they're "not actively doing anything" on that front.

Brown made similar comments before Houston's late effort to land Blake Snell, who reached an agreement on a deal with the San Francisco Giants earlier this week.

The Houston Astros may be a "long-shot" to sign Blake Snell in free agency, according to a report.

It was reported over the weekend that the club was in "serious pursuit" of the left-hander.

However, Houston balked at Snell's asking price, which currently stands at $60 million guaranteed over two years and an opt-out following the 2024 season.