The Astros made a couple of transactions earlier than Monday’s collection opener in Seattle. Houston positioned starter Cristian Javier on the 15-day injured listing, retroactive to Could 24, with forearm discomfort. Additionally they recalled José Abreu and reliever Alex Speas from Triple-A Sugar Land, optioning out Joey Loperfido to clear a further roster spot.
Javier heads to the IL for the second time this season. The correct-hander missed a few weeks between April and Could with neck soreness. Forearm discomfort is of course a extra regarding improvement, however there’s no indication the workforce believes it to be a critical situation for the time being. It’s however a irritating setback for Javier, who has been restricted to seven begins this yr after avoiding the IL between 2020-23.
Across the accidents, Javier has gotten off to a middling begin. He has an affordable 3.89 ERA over 34 2/3 innings, but he’s carrying an 18% strikeout fee that may simply be a private worst. Javier has additionally walked almost 13% of opposing hitters and is averaging solely 91.7 MPH on his fastball, the softest velocity of his profession.
Even a diminished model of Javier has performed an vital function in a Houston rotation that has battled quite a few accidents. He rejoins Lance McCullers Jr., Luis Garcia and José Urquidy on the IL. Urquidy was anticipated to make his return from forearm discomfort within the coming weeks, however he felt renewed soreness throughout a rehab begin final Friday.
Houston has tried to lean on a six-man rotation to navigate an ongoing stretch of 29 video games in 30 days. That hasn’t actually labored as deliberate, as Ronel Blanco served a 10-game international substance suspension earlier than Javier’s harm. Houston has a five-man beginning workers of Framber Valdez, Justin Verlander, Blanco, Hunter Brown and Spencer Arrighetti for the time being. Lately signed lefty Eric Lauer is at Sugar Land as an skilled non-roster depth choice.
Abreu is again on the MLB roster after spending almost a month within the minors. The previous MVP is within the lineup at first base Monday, hitting eighth towards Seattle right-hander Bryce Miller. Abreu has labored to rediscover his timing after hitting .099/.156/.113 over his first 77 huge league plate appearances this season. Lefty-swinging Jon Singleton has been Houston’s main first baseman since Abreu was optioned; Singleton is at designated hitter Monday.
How Abreu performs over the subsequent two months might be a key storyline because the entrance workplace considers its deadline method. Houston has performed their approach again to the perimeter of the playoff image after an atrocious begin to the season. They’re 24-29, sitting in third place within the AL West at three and a half video games behind Seattle. In the event that they’re in rivalry by late July, the Astros will surely attempt to bolster a veteran roster that has gained at the very least one playoff spherical in seven straight seasons. First base can be an apparent goal space except Abreu authors a outstanding turnaround within the coming weeks.
