Astros reliever Bennett Sousa will begin the season on the 15-day injured list, manager Joe Espada tells reporters (including Brian McTaggart of MLB.com). The southpaw suffered a left oblique strain last week and is back in Houston for testing.
It certainly seems like it’ll be more than a minimal injured list stay. Espada declined to specify a timeline but noted it’d be “a while.” Sousa is shut down entirely until he’s able to throw without pain. He’ll join Josh Hader as key bullpen arms starting the season on the shelf.
Losing Sousa obviously isn’t as impactful as beginning the season without Hader, but it’s nevertheless a real blow to Espada’s relief corps. A waiver claim at the end of the ’23 campaign, Sousa quietly developed into a key bullpen piece last year. He fired 50 2/3 innings of 2.84 ERA ball while striking out almost 30% of batters faced. By the second half, no Houston pitcher was being called upon in higher-leverage situations on average.
Sousa has struggled to stay healthy over the past few years. He missed the entire 2024 season due to thoracic outlet surgery. Sousa came back stronger than ever but went down at the end of August with elbow inflammation — ultimately ending his season. He had tossed three innings of one-run ball this spring.
Hader’s absence means Bryan Abreu will begin the season as the primary closer. Bryan King and Steven Okert still give the Astros a pair of quality left-handed setup arms. The bullpen is much less imposing from the right side, especially if they’re reluctant to use Abreu earlier in games.
Enyel De Los Santos, himself questionable for Opening Day after battling a right knee issue, could be set for important innings. Rule 5 pick Roddery Muñoz has had a fantastic Spring Training and should break camp. AJ Blubaugh and Kai-Wei Teng could pitch multiple innings if they make the team, while Ryan Weiss will either be part of a six-man rotation or in long relief. Minor league signee Christian Roa has pitched very well (8 2/3 innings of one-run ball with 12 strikeouts) and seems to have a clear path to an Opening Day roster spot.
No mention of Peter Lambert or Zach Dezenzo’s elbow injury? Sucks, big blow to our ‘pen. We still have some quality pitching depth so I’m not overly worried.