The Astros did a few things before tonight's series opener in Seattle. Houston laid the groundwork Cristian Javier on the 15-day injured list, started May 24, with a sore arm. They also remember José Abreu and a reliever Alex Speas from Triple-A Sugar Land, opting out Joey Loperfido to clear additional list space.
Javier is headed to IL for the second time this season. The right-hander missed several weeks between April and May with neck pain. Arm discomfort is naturally concerning for development, but there's no indication the team believes it's a major problem right now. Still, it's a frustrating setback for Javier, who is limited to seven starts this year after avoiding the IL between 2020-23.
In terms of injuries, Javier has started from scratch. He has a reasonable 3.89 ERA over 34 2/3 innings, yet carries a potential personal-worst 18% strikeout rate. Javier also walked about 13% of opposing hitters and averaged just 91.7 MPH on his fastball, the slowest velocity of his career.
Even a slimmed-down version of Javier has played a key role in a Houston rotation that has dealt with multiple injuries. He repeats Lance McCullers Jr., Luis Garcia again José Urquidy in IL. Urquidy was expected to return from the arm sprain in the coming weeks, but felt renewed pain during his restart last Friday.
Houston tried to rely on a six-man rotation to navigate a stretch of 29 games in 30 days. That didn't really work out as planned, either Ronel Blanco he was given a 10-game suspension for foreign drugs before Javier's injury. Houston has five starting pitchers Framber Valdez, Justin Verlanderwhite, Hunter Brown again Spencer Arrighetti at the moment. The newly signed lefty Eric Lauer is in Sugar Land as a random depth option.
Abreu is back on the MLB roster after spending nearly a month in the minors. The former MVP is in the starting lineup tonight, hitting eighth against Seattle in right field Bryce Miller. Abreu has worked to regain his timing after hitting .099/.156/.113 over his first 77 big plate appearances this season. Left swing Jon Singleton became Houston's first baseman since Abreu was drafted; Singleton is in the designated area tonight.
How Abreu performs over the next two months could be an important story as the front office navigates its approach at the deadline. Houston has played its way back to the fringes of the playoff picture after a poor start to the season. They are 24-29, sitting in third place in the AL West three and a half games behind Seattle. Once they're in contention in late July, the Astros could try to bolster a veteran team that has won at least one round of the playoffs in seven straight seasons. First base would be an obvious target unless Abreu's writers make a dramatic change in the coming weeks.
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