While few will argue that the Toronto Blue Jays seem to be the most snakebitten franchise in terms of injuries at the moment, the Houston Astros have a case to make as the 2nd unluckiest of the bunch.
Houston added shortstop Jeremy Pena and starting pitcher Tatsuya Imai to the injury list on Monday, as they’ll join a lengthy list of Astros players currently on the mend. Pena is battling a right hamstring strain, while Imai is dealing with arm fatigue.
Pena told reporters that his knee tightened up on Friday against the Mariners, but he ultimately finished out the game. After attempting to play through the injury on Saturday, he was ultimately lifted in the 4th inning and underwent imaging on Sunday.
That same game Imai told team medical staff that his arm felt off, resulting in an abbreviated 37 pitch outing before undergoing additional tests of his own. While you never want to lose your starting shortstop to injury, Pena is believed to be on the shorter side of return to play timelines.
However, Imai’s injury couldn’t be coming at a worse time for Houston, who are already without Hunter Brown and Cristian Javier due to shoulder strains. Already down three starting pitchers, the Astros then watched in horror as starter Cody Bolton was forced out of Sunday’s contest in the 2nd inning due to back tightness.
Lefty Bennett Sousa has just begun throwing again after being placed on the injured list due to a left oblique strain, and appears to still be a ways away from returning to action. Closer Josh Hader was shut down in late February after complaining of biceps issues, and hasn’t thrown to live hitters since. And Ronel Blanco continues to recover from Tommy John surgery, pushing his return to action to the 2nd half of the season at the earliest.
All of that has led to a slow 6-10 start for Houston out of the gates, as the team has scuffled to a 1-8 record on the road in the early going of the season. Additional injuries to pieces such as Zach Dezenzo, and Jake Meyers have created additional personnel issues, but the fact remains that Houston’s rotation is currently being held together by duct tape at the moment.
The Astros will wrap up their road trip with a series finale against the Mariners on Monday before heading home to begin a series against the Rockies on Tuesday.
Photo: Matt Young. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.