12:37PM: The Astros officially placed Paredes on the 10-day IL due to a right hamstring strain, and also optioned catcher Cesar Salazar to Triple-A. Whitcomb was called up and Singleton’s contract was selected, and Brendan Rodgers was moved from the 10-day IL to the 60-day IL to create a 40-man roster spot for Singleton.
8:11AM: Astros third baseman Isaac Paredes left Saturday’s 7-6 loss to the Mariners with what was described as right hamstring discomfort. The injury occurred in the third inning, when Paredes hit a line drive off the left field wall that resulted in only a single, as he started limping partway down the first base base line.
Paredes is going from Seattle to Houston today to undergo testing, and a trip to the injured list seems inevitable. MLB.com’s Brian McTaggart reports that infielder/outfielder Shay Whitcomb and first baseman Jon Singleton are joining the Astros from Triple-A Sugar Land prior to today’s game, so the club is already arranging its next set of roster moves. Singleton isn’t on the 40-man roster, so another transaction is forthcoming apart from the shuffle of Paredes for Whitcomb.
This isn’t the first time Paredes has dealt with hamstring problems this season, as some soreness in his left hamstring forced him to miss three games last month but he was able to return none the worse for wear. This new injury “hurts more than the other one,” Paredes told the Houston Chronicle’s Matt Kawahara and other reporters, as he said “I just feel like it pulled as I started running and I couldn’t run anymore.”
While the Astros maintain a three-game lead in the AL West, the club has lost seven of its last eight games, as a mountain of injuries may be catching up to the roster. Assuming Paredes will indeed be sidelined, he’ll become the 16th different player on Houston’s IL, and the ninth position player. The long list of injuries includes arguably Houston’s three top hitters in Paredes, Yordan Alvarez, and Jeremy Pena.
Acquired from the Cubs as part of last winter’s blockbuster Kyle Tucker trade, Paredes has hit .259/.359/.470 with 19 homers over 409 plate appearances in his first season in Houston. Since his .362 wOBA significantly outpaces his .332 xwOBA, some good fortune has been involved in Paredes’ performance, and he isn’t making much hard contact. On the plus side, Paredes is making a lot of contact overall, and posting very strong strikeout and walk rates. It all added up to Paredes’ second straight All-Star nod, as he also made the Midsummer Classic last year when he was still a member of the Rays.
In short, Paredes is basically just about the last player the Astros could afford to lose, but it now looks like he’ll be out of action for (in a best-case scenario) at least the next 10 days. Any of Whitcomb, utilityman Mauricio Dubon, or rookie Brice Matthews could get time at third base with Paredes out, and if Dubon ends up getting the bulk of time at third base, Zack Short will probably take over at shortstop until Pena is able to return. Matthews has primarily played second base since making his MLB debut last week, and the keystone could remain his primary position if Jose Altuve is needed more in left field to help cover the Astros’ long list of outfield absences.
Some good news may be on the horizon, as Alvarez is with the team in Seattle and has started taking swings. Alvarez hasn’t played since May 2 due to what was initially described as right hand inflammation, though follow-up tests in late May revealed a slight fracture in the slugger’s right ring finger. He received two injections after a consultation with a hand specialist at the start of July, and while Alvarez’s IL stint has gone on much longer than expected, his return could be on the horizon.
Looks like Houston is hamstrung due to this injury.
Could say the Asterisks are tuckered out
As a Cubs fan, I’m glad we have Tucker. At the same time, I wish he would shorten his swing sometimes, when the situation calls for it. He doesn’t often get a nice, simple single to the outfield when he comes up with, say, a runner on second and one or two outs, to drive in that run. There are newbies on the Brewers who can do that better than he can, and that is one of the reasons why the Brewers are breathing down the Cubs’ neck and might pass them soon.
I acknowledge that Tucker is very good at other things. The short-quick-swing kind of game might just not be his style. But he’d be more valuable if, sometimes, it was.
Does anyone of this resonate with you Astros fans, who know him better?
Wait until the playoffs. Year 22’, 23’, & 24’ go check playoff stats. Pretty much nonexistent. But very good regular season player overall. Wish he was still an Astro
Alan53 and CC22
Tucker has maybe an extra $100 million riding on this year’s post-season personal performance, hope he can handle the pressure because the skills are there.
And Alan, are you beginning to agree with me that the Cubs are safely making the post-season? They may not win the division but with a couple of pitching adds, they are a consistent top NL team.
I think it’s about 50-50, at best, that they make the postseason, with pitching adds and bench adds. They have the kind of hitting that wilts in August, and their overall record is going to be hurt by all the losses they are going to suffer within the division–and let’s not forget the 6 games they have against the still-dangerous Braves in September. I am rooting hard against the Padres and Giants, because the Cubs will have to finish ahead of at least one of them, and maybe both, to make the playoffs.
It would help if Tucker would get a key hit once in a while, instead of walking repeatedly to keep up his OBP and OPS but only marginally affect the outcome. He is a stat guy, not a winning player.
It is interesting that people here and elsewhere who assumed for months that they were a shoo-in to win the division are now changing their tune. I suppose no one could have anticipated the Brewers would be this good. But they are. Their ability to string hits together to create rallies is almost unprecedented. I ain’t seen anything like it–no-names suddenly becoming stars– since the. ’69 Mets.
Not a winning player? The guy did nothing but win in Houston and now has the Cubs at their best in nearly a decade? Come one now…
@Carolina: I won’t convince you; you have too much emotional investment in Tucker, and emotion always trumps empirical evidence. And probably you have not been watching the Cubs closely, watching every game as I have. But if you watch a team every day, you know who gets the important, game-changing hits, and who doesn’t. You know who has an effective compact swing and who has a long, looping swing that is not as effective. You know who rolls over breaking pitches and hits harmless grounders a lot, and who does that only rarely. You know who reaches for outside pitches and hits easy flies to center a lot, and who does that less often. You know who seems to drive in a run or two most days, and who seems often to go several games or more without a ribby. You know who you would like to see come up with the tying run on second in the bottom of the ninth, and who you would not like to see in such situations. Tucker is a sound player, a good player, but he is not the “transformative” player he was advertised as. Perhaps our expectations were simply raised too high, and if we had been told instead that he was a good player, at about the level of the man he replaced, Bellinger, we would be satisfied. But we were told he would be elite, and he hasn’t been.
It does seem like he was better in Houston. Maybe last year’s leg injury is still affecting him? He doesn’t seem to be “planting” well at the plate. He seems to be trying to do it all with his arms.
I do watch games daily. Idk what more you want the guy to do. He absolutely is playing as advertised and has made the Cubs lineup much better than years past. This feels like the critique of Kris Bryant during some of his time in Chicago where he’d have a walk and a knock and people thought he was average or not a difference maker.
He’s 8th in MLB in OBP (.383) and slugging .500 to go with it. Yeah he’s cooled off a bit, but he rarely goes multiple days in a row without a hit.
He has more walks than strikeouts in 2025… It doesn’t take emotions to call him a good ball player.
He walks a lot, and that elevates his OBP and OPS. He gets some hits, but rarely when they do much good. As I said, he’s more of a stats guy than a difference-maker. More of a good player, a serviceable player, than a great one.
I think part of the reason why we see him differently is that you probably see when hits come as mostly a matter of randomness, as indeed modern analytics has it. So if a guy gets a hit and a walk most days, that seems very good to you; it doesn’t matter that the hit and walk came when there was no one on base, and the two outs came when a hit could have driven in the run that could have won the game. I get that, but my view is more like that of Hawk Harrelson: “Don’t tell me what you hit, tell me when you hit it!”
In fact, hate me if you want to, but Bryant WAS a little like that, though in his best years he was better than Tucker.
Alan
Sorry to say I think the Giants will falter. Brewers, Cubs, Dodgers, Padres, Phillies, Mets. I don’t think that the Cubs offense will wilt. My concern is Shota and Boyd in September and October. Cubs need more pitching not Geno.
Woo Hoo! It is time for the M’s to load up at the trade deadline, There will never be a better opportunity to win the division and go to the WS.. Ownership needs to open their checkbook and get it done today.
While I get the enthusiasm for your team’s chances, it’s pretty bad form to be cheering on a report of an injury to a player of an opposing team. After all, tomorrow could have a report of Cal Raleigh going down to injury.
Nothing screams Mariners fan like rooting for injuries on the other team as our only chance to win. So proud of our fan base. And it’s Houston who is the dirty team right???
That’s unsportsmanlike conduct there AlienBob. Mariners fans should be taking the high and realize that the AL West runs thru Houston until it doesn’t, and we haven’t earned anything yet. Many games to play and could likely be a three team race to the finish with Texas.
As a Rangers fan, this gives me some slight hope. However, I have him on my fantasy team, so that stinks.
This trade dead line is going to about who wants to overpay for Egunio Saurez the most.
No kidding. Astros, Brewers, Cubs, Dodgers, Mariners, Mets, Tigers, Yankees bidding for Suarez, McMahon and Arenado.
^And Blue Jays*
Nobody should want to take on the contracts for McMahon, Arenado or Hayes.
Unless the Dbacks decide not to sell.
Blue Baron don’t be the party pooper now! All the contending teams could talk a slice out of that Dbacks pie.
I feel bad for his pain. That sucks.
And…
Go Mariners!
With the medical/training staff the organization employs, then I’m positive this will be misdiagnosed and turn into an 8-week absence. See Kyle Tucker last season, Yordan Alvarez this season.
The only question is if there’s someone skilled enough on the Astros medical/training staff to read the results.
Astros pulled off an excellent trade sending Tucker and getting parades
Paredes really benefitted from playing at Minute Maid, or whatever their stadium is called now. Good trade for both Astros and Cubs.
In no way was it a good trade for Chicago, unless they win a ring.
Cam Smith is a natural third baseman. He played there at Florida State & in the minors. He only moved to the outfield so the Astros could get back in the lineup. Don’t know why the Astros don’t just put him there
The other outfielders on the roster include Cooper Hummel and Taylor Trammell. That’s probably why they’ll keep Smith in right. He’s taken to the outfield naturally, his defense has been pretty good out there. Alot better than anyone could have imagined. Why move him out of right and create a hole at two positions?
I will just say this that despite 16 of the original 26 members of this 2025 roster being in some form of physical distress they still have a first place position till they don’t. Hate them if you want but there is no denying this team is a huge underdog and if they win this division and make the playoffs then it might be one of the greatest seasons a team has had since maybe 1969 or 1960 as the Pirates beat the Yankees in 7 and were outscored by like 20 runs.
To those Astro fans hang in there…to those complaining b..ches who just want to hate Houston because they are easy to hate shut up for once and enjoy the show.
Lol
“ShUt Up FoR oNcE aNd EnJoY tHe ShOw”
Lmao we peasants are not worthy
Jon Singleton has some dirt on someone in the Astros org. How does this dude still keep getting looks?