Astros Shut Down Penn Murfee’s Rehab Assignment

Right-hander Penn Murfee began a rehab assignment last week but made just one appearance and will now be shut down. Per Matt Kawahara of the Houston Chronicle, the righty has been returned from that rehab assignment due to what the team calls “a reoccurrence of right elbow discomfort.”

Murfee, now 30, got out to a strong start in his major league career. He made 80 appearances for the Mariners over the 2022 and 2023 seasons with a 2.70 earned run average. He posted a strong 27.9% strikeout rate in that time, with his 8.5% walk rate close to league average.

The latter of those two seasons was cut short midway through, as he underwent Tommy John surgery in July of last year. In the offseason, the M’s put him on waivers and he was claimed by the Mets and then Atlanta. The latter club non-tendered him, re-signed him to a split deal and then put him back on waivers, at which point the Astros claimed him.

Houston was undoubtedly hoping Murfee could provide a second-half jolt to their bullpen once he recovered from his surgery, but that’s looking less likely now. “It’s not ideal,” manager Joe Espada said. “It sucks because I know he’s worked really hard. He wants to get on the field, he wants to pitch for us this season. I still expect him to do it. It’s just, we’re going to have to slow him down a little bit here and see how he feels. It’s day to day right now.”

It seems Espada still left the window open for Murfee to come back this year, but it’ll be tight just based on the calendar. Whenever he’s cleared to restart his rehab, he’ll presumably need a few outings to get into game shape after so much down time. The Astros have taken the lead in the West division and could perhaps increase the chances of Murfee playing a role if they manage to play deep into October yet again.

Even if that doesn’t come to pass, Murfee could play a role on the club in the future. He came into this season with one year and 169 days of service time. Players on the major league injured list collect service time, so he’ll finish this year at 2.169 as long as he’s not activated and then optioned in the next few weeks. He will qualify for arbitration as a Super Two player this winter but won’t be able to command a huge raise after so much missed time. The Astros can control him for four additional seasons beyond this one.

In another bit of Astros news, Chandler Rome of The Athletic relays on X that the club is going to give Alex Bregman some reps at first base. He recently missed a few games due to right elbow inflammation but has been in the last two contests as the designated hitter. Shay Whitcomb has been covering the hot corner of late while Bregman’s elbow is preventing him from making strong throws across the diamond, but perhaps he could handle first, where the throwing demands are lower.

While the club is surely glad to have Bregman’s bat back in the lineup, it currently makes for a slightly awkward fit as it forces Yordan Alvarez to play the field every day. The club has also given some DH time to Yainer Diaz this year, keeping his bat in the lineup whenever Victor Caratini is catching. If Bregman could slot in at first from time to time, it could give Espada a bit more flexibility in setting the lineup, getting Alvarez and Diaz a lighter workload as they approach the postseason.

First base has been a bit hole for the club this year, with José Abreu having been released after his immense struggles. Jon Singleton has largely taken over, with Zach Dezenzo also factoring in lately and Diaz moving there on occasion as well. Singleton is hitting .234/.314/.369 this year for a wRC+ of 97, almost league average but a bit below the expectations for a first baseman. Dezenzo has hit .188/.235/.313 in a small sample of 34 plate appearances. Bregman has hit .261/.319/.448 this year for a 117 wRC+ but has been even better lately. After cold start to the season, he has hit .296/.351/.512 since the start of June for a 145 wRC+.