Astros Down Two Key Players, Scrambling For Arms and Bats Early
The Houston Astros are feeling the injury bug early in the season, and it's going to sting. On Friday, the club placed right-hander Cristian Javier on the 15-day injured list with a right shoulder strain while also putting outfielder Jake Meyers on the 10-day IL due to an oblique strain. Both injuries happened during Wednesday's 9-1 loss to the Colorado Rockies, with Meyers leaving the game due to lower back tightness mid-at-bat in the second inning and Javier getting pulled with shoulder tightness.
A Rough Start Gets Rougher
This couldn't have come at a worse time for Houston's rotation. Javier has already struggled out of the gate, sitting at 0-1 with a brutal 12.54 ERA across three starts this season. Losing him now means the Astros have to dig deeper into their depth while he recovers. As for Meyers, he was hitting .243 with just one homer and four RBIs, so it's not like the team was riding him to early success anyway, but depth in the outfield matters when injuries start piling up.
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To patch the holes, the Astros selected the contracts of right-hander J.P. France and outfielder Taylor Trammell from Triple-A Sugar Land. France hasn't taken the mound for Houston this season yet, though he went 1-0 with a 2.25 ERA in two appearances last year, so there's some track record to work with. Trammell got a real opportunity last year, appearing in a career-high 52 games and hitting .197 with three homers and 12 RBIs. Not exactly eye-popping numbers, but he's depth the Astros are counting on right now.
The Astros also transferred right-hander Ronel Blanco to the 60-day IL, signaling this is a longer-term situation for another piece of the rotation. Early April injuries like this can set the tone for how the rest of your season plays out. Houston has to hope their callups can hold the line until their rotation gets healthy.
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