11:30pm: Houston will recall Joey Loperfido to take Tucker’s place on the active roster, reports Brian McTaggart of MLB.com (on X). Loperfido debuted earlier this season and hit .333/.381/.436 with a homer in 14 games.
8:36pm: The Astros have placed star outfielder Kyle Tucker on the 10-day injured list with a right shin contusion, tweets Matt Kawahara of the Houston Chronicle. The move is retroactive to June 4, meaning Tucker could return a week from now. Houston didn’t immediately announce a corresponding roster move or provide a timetable for his return.
Tucker was injured in Monday’s win over the Cardinals. He fouled a ball off his leg and had to be removed from the game. While the two-time All-Star was on crutches postgame, testing didn’t reveal any fractures. That led the Astros to keep him on the active roster for a few days even though he wasn’t healthy enough to play. He evidently needed more time than the team initially hoped, sending him to the shelf.
It’s probably no coincidence that Houston placed Tucker on the IL just before tonight’s game. A team is allowed to backdate an IL stint by up to three days. Tucker had already been out since June 4. If the Astros had waited into the weekend to put him on the shelf, they’d have pushed back his first possible return date.
The injury halts a fantastic start to the season. Tucker has been a superstar for a few years and has taken his game to new heights in 2024. He has already hit 19 homers across 262 plate appearances. He’s running a .266/.395/.584 batting line with 46 walks against 41 strikeouts over 60 games. If healthy, he should coast to a third consecutive All-Star Game and looks on track to beat last year’s fifth-place finish in MVP balloting.
Despite Tucker’s massive numbers, the Astros head into this weekend’s set against the Angels with a 28-35 record. Their efforts to dig out of that hole will be complicated by the loss of their best player for at least a week. Houston plugged Yordan Alvarez into left field tonight against Griffin Canning, freeing the DH spot for Yainer Diaz and getting Victor Caratini into the lineup at catcher. Trey Cabbage is starting in right field for the second consecutive game.
In other injury news, the Astros announced this afternoon that starters Cristian Javier and José Urquidy each underwent Tommy John surgery (X link via Chandler Rome of the Athletic). Rome had previously reported that Javier would be undergoing TJS on Thursday. Urquidy’s status wasn’t as clear. While the team announced on Wednesday that he was headed for a season-ending elbow procedure, it wasn’t known whether he’d require a full Tommy John or a modified internal brace repair. Both pitchers seem likely to be out past the 2025 All-Star Break. Urquidy, who would be a free agent after ’25, could be non-tendered next winter.
Astros and Padres should work a trade
Phillies need to be all over Tucker….
Good. That cheating mother Tucker deserves it.
Not really. Houston has been a renegade organization for some time, comparable to the old Al Davis Raiders. “Just win, baby!”
Sounds like a perfect time to trade him to the Braves for Acuna
It’s amazing how consistently stupid you are.
You probably think Acuna is still relevant so we can be both stupid.
No thanks, I’m good not being stupid like you. Stay stupid!
This hurts the astros chances at getting over .500
puke
You should all be ashamed
Tucker is tentamount
@mariners fan: So what? Life will go if they stay under .500.
If the Astros don’t get over .500, the Mariners’ self-fulfilling prophecy of blowing it, might be in jeopardy.
2 years ago
Comeback in Toronto, every astros game went down to the wire
Blows my mind this dude is still pre arb somehow
It’s weird, but he’s making $12 million this year. That’s pretty sweet for a guy who has never had a hearing yet.
He went to a hearing in 2023 and lost
Or is he not pre-arb he just avoided arbitration each year like most players do? Hes been eligible for it for a while.
Incorrect. He’s been to arb with HOU and lost.
Sorry, I didn’t look into it. Thats why it was a question.
A lot of people have him being traded to the Braves for a nice haul. I think the Astros need to really consider moving him. It would help the team long term. Than they should trade away other pieces and rebuild
Why the Braves? Why not the Cubs or Dodgers or Orioles?
This reminds of when the Orioles held on to Machado one year too long. If Crane is giving the green light to a reset move Tucker now … and to the highest bidder.
Tucker is probably a top five player. I can’t figure out why they wouldn’t want to keep that!
The Braves don’t have enough to get Tucker.
Tucker is a no-go with this fan. I would bite my lip and let Bregman go if necessary.
That’s not giving up anything. He’s set for free agency at the end of the season anyway.
I would say that you are incorrect that he “looks on track to beat last-year’s 5th place finish in MvP balloting.” Clearly Judge, Soto, Henderson and Witt would all finish ahead of him given their stats and team standings. And given team standings, one could make an argument for Ramirez in the 5th spot. Right now, at best, Tucker is tracking for another 5th place finish, which is impressive enough.
I said last month on here he’s gonna get traded to the NL west
And what makes you credible?
I’ve been predicting for months Tucker will or will not be traded, and that either outcome could happen at any time.
That’s really a commitment.
I have never seen this dude smile. Looks perpetually grouchy.
Tucker can run full sprint with no expression on his face. He can slide into home to win game 7 of the World Series and get up, throw one high five and and ask what’s next. Dude might be on the spectrum.
Why was Trey Cabbage on the big league roster and Joey Loperfido was in the minors?
While Loperfidos numbers looked good while he was in the bigs, the team was scared because he struck out 50% of the time. So those good numbers weren’t going to last. He’ll be back though, just needs to put the bat on the ball more often
He’s still better than Singleton/Abreu.
Joey is potentially part of their long-term future and needs the at bat’s. They can afford to have Cabbage sit on the bench.
They have an opening on the active roster. I heard that Loperfido was coming back but I haven’t seen anything official yet.
Hopefully this will get the rest of the bats to wake up
That’s a big loss. 77% better than league average (wRC+) and providing 3.3 WAR so far? Hard to find replacement for that.
This hurts a lot, not having him for a week is still not ideal at all.
Yo Stros fans! It’s past time to get Trevy signed isn’t it? Let’s go Trevy! MLB is doing him dirty and so talented. Wish my Brewers would reach out!