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The Astros are slowly but surely beginning to get players back from an injured list that was once 18 players deep. In their 124 games, they have had 117 different starting lineups. They have started 13 different pitchers and have had 28 different pitchers come out of the bullpen, not counting position players.
Still, the struggles, mostly at the plate, continue. They are only 5-5 in their last 10 games. Good news: the Mariners aren’t faring much better. Let’s take a look at the week such as it was.
No one is running away with the West.
While the Astros have seemed to flail away recently, so have the one team vying for the AL West title with them. Seattle went on a 9-1 run to close the gap and even briefly tied the Astros atop the division. As of writing, they were 1.5 games back of the Astros, though that could change in nearly an instant. Both the Tigers and Blue Jays have pulled far enough ahead that it is unlikely whoever wins the West will challenge for a one or two seed in the playoffs and, at the moment, there are at least five teams in serious contention for the Wild Card spots.
It is conceivable that either the Astros or Mariners miss the postseason altogether if they cannot win the division. There is a lot on the line and neither team is doing much to inspire confidence.
Yordan Alvarez begins a rehab stint this week.
If there was ever a time for good thoughts, prayers, spells cast, whatever you have to do to speed the Astros star slugger to a full recovery, get on that. On Tuesday, he will play in Corpus Christi, his first game action since the first week of May due to a broken hand. All indications are that he is nearing full strength and the Astros desperately need him. No word on how many rehab outings he will need. Just cross your fingers he stays healthy and gets back to the big league team as soon as possible.
Josh Hader is out for the regular season, probably the postseason as well.
Hader has a capsule strain in his throwing shoulder, an injury that might be able to be rehabbed, but with the season quickly wrapping up, it would probably take some kind of miracle to get him back for the playoffs. He won’t even start throwing again for a few weeks and then will test things to see how it goes. Hader has been one of the best closers in baseball this season. His absence has strained an already thin bullpen that cannot afford even one more injury in a year loaded with them.
Luis Garcia, Lance McCullers, Jr., Jake Meyers all could be back soon.
The light at the end of the tunnel might not be a train after all. The reports on Garcia, McCullers and Meyers have all been positive. McCullers is with the team in Detroit though no decision has been made on when he will play or how the team will handle his return. Garcia is about to pitch his eighth rehab start. He has been very solid in his appearances thus far and should rejoin the Astros in the next few weeks. Meyers is close to getting his own rehab stint after good reports out of Florida where he is working on his calf injury.
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Jeff Balke
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