The Astros are placing right-hander Lance McCullers on the 10-day disabled list due to discomfort in his lower back, reports Jake Kaplan of the Houston Chronicle (Twitter link). McCullers, the Astros’ No. 2 starter, will join ace Dallas Keuchel on the shelf. Kaplan tweets further that the team is hopeful that McCullers can avoid a lengthy stay on the DL, though the placement of the team’s top two starters on the disabled list is obviously of some concern even if neither injury is believed to be serious at this time.
[Related: Updated Houston Astros depth chart]
The silver lining for Houston, of course, is that the team has such an enormous lead on the division that weathering the loss of its top two starters for a short period is perfectly plausible. The Astros are currently 12 games ahead of the second-place Angels and 13 games ahead of both the Mariners and Rangers. Right-hander Joe Musgrove is being activated to start tonight’s game, per Kaplan, though there’s no word yet who’ll start in place of McCullers tomorrow.
McCullers, 23, has been not only one of the best arms on the Astros but one of the best young arms in the entire American League. Through 76 2/3 innings in 2017, he’s pitched to a pristine 2.58 ERA with a gaudy 89-to-23 K/BB ratio and a sensational 63 percent ground-ball rate. With both Keuchel and McCullers sidelined for the time being, Houston will likely rely on a rotation consisting of Musgrove, Mike Fiers, Brad Peacock and David Paulino.
Top prospect Francis Martes, conceivably, could step into the team’s rotation, and dominant multi-inning reliever Chris Devenski at least makes sense as a speculative option. Other candidates on the current 40-man roster are a bit scarce, as righties Charlie Morton and Collin McHugh have not yet begun a minor league rehab assignments. Prospect Brady Rodgers, meanwhile, is out for the year due to Tommy John surgery.
Ouch. I’m hoping this is just a precautionary way to limit his innings.
For all the hate Mike Fiers gets, he’s essentially the staff leader right now.
If the Astros go through a rough patch, I think they’ll DFA Aoki (congrats on 2000 hits, here’s your pink slip) and find out if the AAA hitters are ready.
Derek Fisher is a direct replacement for Aoki and he’s absolutely destroying AAA. In 240 AB, he has a .333/.401/.608 slash line with 16 HR and 12 SB. While I personally want the Astros to waive Aoki and let Fisher play (he can’t be worse than Aoki), I think the Astros end up flipping Fisher for a starting pitcher. With their resistance to deal Tucker in deals during the off-season, I think Fisher’s insanely hot start has helped his trade value rise tremendously. Having said that, I’d rather trade Tucker than Fisher… I think Tucker is a greater prospect in terms of upside, but he’s still a couple years away from the majors. With the Astros ready to win now, I’d roll the dice and trust Fisher. Plus, I still think Tucker would net them a better SP.
I hope the Astros are able to hold onto both Tucker and Fisher. That way, at least one of them will hopefully be really good. It’s probably unlikely though.
When Mike Fiers is your “staff leader” you are royally effed. RIP Astros.
They’re 25 games over 500
I think he has forgotten about the 2015 Royals, and how an average rotation took the team to a World Series and won it. And it’s the 3rd month, Lance and Dallas are on 10 day DL, and HOU have a ginormous lead
And then the collapse began…
What. The rotation could give up 6 runs a game and that offense could still pull a .500 record the rest of the way. Frankly the division is so bad they could play 5 games under .500 the rest of the way and win the division. There isn’t a team who can play 8 games over .500 baseball behind them.
Mariner’s are getting healthy. Should close the gap a little but I see them getting the wild card. Astros would have to turn to crap to lose the division. Mariner’s just got Paxton and haniger back. Segura, king Felix, smyly and iwakuma are all due back soon. Angels, A’s and rangers should continue to fall as the trade deadline approaches. With them selling off vets.
lmao, collapse. One of the deepest farm systems with the deepest lineup and the biggest lead in MLB with the best record in MLB. No collapse at all. There trying to limit his innings to keep him fresh for October because these games do not matter. October baseball does. Found the idiot you guys.
They can collapse and they’ll still be the best team in their division by a long shot
Start the Quintana to Houston hype/rumors again now.
anybody but Quintana
Yah, because Cole and Gray have been so fantastic…
I’d be surprised if they didn’t put another deal on the table for him… with slightly lower cost. It was smart to not give away the farm up front this time around, but he’s had fairly bad luck with the defense behind him it seems. He’s still got a good K/9 and pitches to contact, so our guys would be pretty busy but would probably stand a better chance at bailing him out than the White Sox current debacle of an infield. I think they have something like 25 Errors at this point in the season. Pretty crazy. I think the ‘Stros have somewhere around 10 for their starters and 13 including Marwin.
That support can definitely make a pitcher who’s struggling look a bit better and maybe bring them out of the funk.
Who knows though. I’d definitely welcome him into the rotation, bumping one of the 4 or 5 spot guys into the ‘pen.
Absolutely. There are only two controllable quality starting pitchers who are definitely available on the trade market this soon before the non-waiver trade deadline, Jose Quintana and Sonny Gray.
An inter-division deal between the rival A’s and Astros might be difficult to consummate. A trade with the White Sox would figure to be much easier, especially since one was discussed at length during the offseason.
There’s little doubt that “Q’ has lost some value with his inconsistent production so far this season but he is still as durable as ever which is something the Astros need desperately as they head toward the postseason. With Dallas Keuchel and Lance McCullers looking like bonafide #1 and #2 starters so far this season and with both looking at short stays on the disabled list, “Q” would fit in nicely as a #3 for the remainder of the season and into the playoffs.
How about cueto to Houston for fisher. With Giants picking up the rest of cuetos salary for this year
I don’t know that they’d go for that. Isn’t his contract up this year? Seems like a lot for a rental, if so.
He has an opt out and no one has any idea if he’ll exercise is. His era is high but his peripherals are pretty darn good
Don’t see the need for any panic. Plenty of live arms in AA/AAA right now that could be called up for spot starts.
Been yelling all year that the Astros lack of pitching depth is why they aren’t a serious contender, and now we’re about to see their lead shrink – luckily the AL West is pretty bad so they’ll still win it, but the Indians, Red Sox and Yankees are still the clear AL teams to beat this season, early June W-L records be damned.
Come on now… The Sox are playing decent baseball, but aren’t far above .500. The Yankees are legitimately running away with the East, and the Indians are in danger of falling backward unless they pick up the pace.
I’m not one of those homer fans who says things like “we’ve got it locked up”, or “we can with with anyone in there”, but it’s been pretty much the case thus far. To think that Luhnow and Ryan aren’t in their offices making calls prior to the draft, is pretty far fetched. After the draft is completed it’ll be time to explore deals.
You can’t win 162, and injuries happen. This could easily be precautionary as the Astros have a ridiculous lead on the dumpster heap that is the rest of the AL West. They’re still the best in baseball, and could potentially have the most tenured and successful pitcher on the staff be Fiers for the next few weeks. I’d still take this team all around over any other team in the league.
Anyone saying otherwise is fooling themselves.
A 44-20 record buys time to make a trade and heal up some pitchers while winning and losing a few.
“Not a serious contender…”
Please.
Don’t bother trying to reason with him ClubAstros. He’s already made up in his mind that he’s right and you’re wrong. (Totally agree with you though.)
I know that he isn’t a high end arm by any means, but I wonder if the Astros would be interested in picking up Jaime Garcia from the Braves. He’s pitched well of late, has pitched for competitive teams in the past and probably wouldn’t cost much prospect wise. He would however be capable of putting up quality innings. Of course given the huge lead the Astros have they are probably not inclined to rush into any deal unless a high end talent winds up being available at a good price.
The Astros have plenty of time to wait and see