Astros Release Pedro Baez
The Astros informed reporters (including Jake Kaplan of the Athletic) this afternoon that reliever Pedro Báez has cleared waivers and been unconditionally released. This was the anticipated outcome after the team designated the right-hander for assignment on Tuesday.
Báez’s tenure in Houston comes to a disappointing end. Signed to a two-year, $12.5MM guarantee in January 2021, he wound up making just seven appearances in an Astros uniform. His tenure was set back by an early positive COVID-19 diagnosis, which delayed his season debut. During his attempt to ramp-up after recovering, Báez came down with shoulder soreness that necessitated a lengthy stay on the injured list. Houston didn’t activate him for his team debut until the second week of August.
His return lasted just two weeks. Báez’s results were fine, but his fastball velocity — which had been in the 94-96 MPH range during his two prior seasons with the Dodgers — had plummeted south of 91 MPH. Báez went back on the IL in late August with more shoulder soreness and didn’t return last year. He returned to the mound to open the 2022 campaign, but he averaged just north of 90 MPH on his heater through three outings. Báez was tagged for six runs (three earned) on five hits and three walks in 2 1/3 innings.
Paired with his diminished arsenal, those subpar results convinced the front office to pull the plug. At the time of his designation, Houston general manager James Click praised Báez’s work ethic and attempts to rediscover his velocity but conceded the team hadn’t gotten “the progress we had hoped to see to get him back to the form he was in when we signed him” (via Brian McTaggart of MLB.com).
The Astros will remain on the hook for the approximate $4.9MM still due to Báez for the rest of this season. They’ll also owe him a $2MM buyout on a 2023 club option. Any other team can now take a look on a low-cost deal. A team that signs Báez would owe him only the prorated portion of the $700K league minimum salary, which would be subtracted from Houston’s expenditures, for any time he spends in the majors.
Appellate Court Unsealing 2017 Letter From MLB To Yankees Regarding Rules Violation
In June 2020, a New York district court ordered Major League Baseball and the Yankees to unseal a letter sent by commissioner Rob Manfred to New York general manager Brian Cashman in 2017 regarding rules violations by the club from 2015-16. The Yankees appealed that ruling, but the appeal was rejected by the 2nd Circuit last week, as Evan Drellich of the Athletic reported on Thursday.
The contents of the so-called “Yankee letter” — which is expected to be officially unsealed later this week — were reported by Andy Martino of SNY this afternoon. The letter revealed that MLB determined the Yankees had used the video replay room to decode signs during the 2015 and 2016 seasons. The letter also revealed the team occasionally improperly used the dugout phone to relay decoded signs from the replay room to the dugout. When New York had a runner on second base, that runner would pass along the forthcoming pitch type to the batter. (The Athletic had reported in January 2020 the Yankees had used the replay room to decode signs). Allegations by the Red Sox the Yankees were using cameras from the YES Network to steal signs were found unsubstantiated in Manfred’s letter.
Perhaps the most notable piece of new information from the release of the letter is that MLB fined the Yankees $100K for the misuse of the dugout phone. That the league had fined the Yankees was reported in September 2017, though the amount of the punishment was unknown until today.
All of the Yankees’ rules violations outlined in the letter occurred prior to September 15, 2017, when the league informed all 30 clubs it’d be cracking down on sign-stealing. That sets the Yankees’ violations apart from the Astros’ 2017-18 sign-stealing scandal (which was also far greater in scope than the league found the Yankees had orchestrated) and the Red Sox’s 2018 misuse of the video room.
The Yankees and MLB both released statements this afternoon (via Drellich) that delineated between pre-09/15/17 violations and those that occurred after MLB announced its crackdown. As part of its statement, the league stated the Yankees “were fined for improper use of the dugout phone because the Replay Review Regulations prohibited the use of the replay phone to transmit any information other than whether to challenge a play. The Yankees did not violate MLB’s rules at the time governing sign stealing.”
The Yankees stated they fought against the publication of the commissioner’s letter in part “to prevent the incorrect equating of events that occurred before the establishment of the Commissioner’s sign-stealing rules with those that took place after. What should be made vibrantly clear is this: the fine noted in Major League Baseball’s letter was imposed before MLB’s new regulations and standards were issued.”
Fans figure to make their own judgments about the moral implications of the Yankees’ actions. Even if one feels that sign-stealing before the league’s crackdown was fair game, there’s no question the New York organization broke the league’s rules regarding the dugout phone when they used it to pass along signs from the replay room to on-field personnel. That said, nothing within the contents of the commissioner’s letter come as a surprise relative to what had already been reported. It’s clear from the league’s statement on the matter it considered the issue final after levying the fine five years ago, and there won’t be any further discipline.
Astros Designate Pedro Baez For Assignment
The Astros have designated right-hander Pedro Baez for assignment and recalled righty Seth Martinez from Triple-A Sugar Land, the team announced Tuesday.
Baez, 34, is just weeks into the second season of a two-year, $12.5MM contract that also contained a club option for the 2023 season. He missed the majority of the 2021 season due to shoulder troubles, however, pitching just 4 1/3 innings. He’s been limited to 2 1/3 frames thus far in 2022, during which time he’s been clobbered for six runs (three earned) on five hits and three walks with two punchouts. Baez’s fastball, which averaged nearly 98 mph at its peak and sat at 96 mph as recently as 2019, has averaged just 90.2 mph so far in 2022.
Houston will technically have a week to trade Baez or place him on outright waivers, but that’s a generally moot point. Another team isn’t going to take on the remainder of this season’s $5.5MM salary or the $2MM buyout he’s still owed on next year’s club option — not with his recent shoulder troubles and alarming velocity dip. Even if Baez were to be passed through outright waivers, he could reject an outright assignment to a minor league affiliate, elect free agency and retain his salary based on the level of big league service time he’s accrued.
The most likely outcome here is that the Astros will eat the remaining $4.91MM on Baez’s salary, as well as the $2MM buyout on next year’s option and simply release him. Baez would be free to sign with a new club, at which point that team would only owe him the prorated league minimum for any time he spent in the Majors. That sum would be subtracted from the $6.91MM the ‘Stros otherwise owe him.
Disheartening as Baez’s brief time with the Astros was, he was a well-regarded late-inning arm for the Dodgers in the years leading up to his free agency. From 2014-20, Baez tallied 356 innings of 3.o3 ERA ball with 100 holds, three saves, a 25.3% strikeout rate and an 8.2% ground-ball rate. He tacked on another 29 1/3 innings of 3.99 ERA ball in the playoffs, and if you set aside a rough showing in the early stages of his career (2014-15), Baez notched a 2.70 mark in 26 1/3 postseason innings from 2016-20.
Astros Moving Cristian Javier Into Rotation
The Astros are moving right-hander Cristian Javier from the bullpen back into what will now be a six-man rotation, manager Dusty Baker told reporters yesterday (link via Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle). Houston is facing a daunting stretch of 33 games in the next 34 days, and Baker revealed that the team has been expecting to move to a six-man rotation since Spring Training, recognizing this marathon stretch on the schedule.
Javier joins Justin Verlander, Framber Valdez, Luis Garcia, Jose Urquidy and Jake Odorizzi in what Baker termed a “temporary” six-man rotation. Of course, the fact that the team isn’t planning to trot out a six-man unit for the duration of the season doesn’t mean that Javier is ticketed for bullpen work once this imposing stretch of games draws to a close. Injuries can always alter the picture, and right-hander Lance McCullers Jr. will be eligible to return not long after this 34-day gauntlet. The Astros will also surely need to see better results from Odorizzi (nine runs, five strikeouts, seven walks in nine innings) and Urquidy (5.52 ERA, 11.3% strikeout rate in 14 2/3 innings) for either to hold their starting job in the long term.
Odorizzi, in particular, has drawn the ire of fans early in the season. The righty has gotten out to a slow start for a second straight year, but it’s worth pointing out that in his final 96 2/3 innings after returning from the injured list last season, he pitched to a 3.72 ERA with a 19.8% strikeout rate and 7.7% walk rate — solid marks that generally fall in line with his career numbers. Odorizzi is playing the 2022 season on a $5MM base salary and is also owed at least a $3.25MM buyout on next year’s $6.5MM player option. He can earn up to $6.75MM via incentives this year, with a $500K bonus for reaching 100 innings and then a $1MM incentive for every 10 innings thereafter, up through 150. He’d receive a $1.25MM bonus for hitting 160 innings.
Turning back to Javier, there’s an easy argument that, based on the talented 25-year-old’s prior success as a starter, a permanent move to the rotation is the right call. While his velocity and strikeout rate are higher when working out of the ‘pen, as one would expect, Javier nevertheless carries a 3.42 ERA and a hearty 26.7% strikeout rate in 19 career appearances as a starter. His 9.8% walk rate when starting games is a good bit lower than the 12.1% mark he’s posted out of the ‘pen, and while it’s still a small sample, Javier hasn’t shown the drastic splits that many pitchers have when facing a lineup for a third time. Opponents have batted .151/.270/.377 against Javier when facing him for the third time in a day.
Looking beyond the current season and what Javier’s move to the rotation could mean for the 2022 Astros, there’d be notable ramifications as soon as 2023. Javier is eligible for arbitration for the first time this winter, and he’d be poised for a much larger jump in salary with a successful season’s worth of starts than he would with a season worth of multi-inning relief work. Javier was placed into a long relief role in order to keep him stretched as a starter, Baker noted, but that’s meant only three appearances thus far. Dominant as they’ve been — Javier has yet to allow a run and has fanned 12 of his 31 opponents (38.7%) — Javier hasn’t been put in position to earn a save or a hold, either of which could help his case in arbitration. Working as a starter seems likely to be the best use of his talents for the Astros, but it’s also best for him and his long-term earning capacity in arbitration.
Javier’s first start of the season will be a road outing against the Rangers on Wednesday this week. He’s thrown 28, 53 and 55 pitches in his first three appearances this season, so it’s unlikely he’ll be tasked with tossing 100 pitches and pitching deep into the game. Five to six innings is probably the longest he’ll be allowed to pitch, depending on his efficiency, but the fact that he eclipsed 50 pitches both on April 13 and April 20 indicates that he won’t need to go through a particularly lengthy build-up process.
Offseason In Review: Houston Astros
The Astros didn’t make many notable outside additions over the winter. They’re relying on an excellent internal core to make another run at a World Series, counting on their top prospect to step into the major leagues to replace one of the game’s best players.
Major League Signings
- RHP Justin Verlander: One year, $25MM (deal also contains $25MM player option for 2023 which vests if Verlander reaches 130 innings this season)
- RHP Héctor Neris: Two years, $17MM (deal also contains $8.5MM team option for 2024, which Neris can vest into a player option based on number of appearances)
- SS Niko Goodrum: One year, $2.1MM
2022 spending: $35.1MM
Total spending: $44.1MM
Option Decisions
- Exercised $8MM club option on 1B Yuli Gurriel
Trades and claims
- Traded C Garrett Stubbs to Phillies for minor league OF Logan Cerny
Extensions
- Signed RHP Ryan Pressly to a two-year, $30MM extension (deal also contains vesting option for 2025 based on number of appearances)
Notable Minor League Signings
Notable Losses
- Carlos Correa, Kent Emanuel, Yimi García, Marwin González, Kendall Graveman, Zack Greinke, Brooks Raley, Stubbs
The Astros entered the offseason coming off a disappointing finish in the World Series, which they dropped in six games to the Braves. Considering Houston made it back to the Fall Classic — their fifth consecutive season advancing at least as far as the AL Championship Series — it stood to reason they’d try to preserve as much continuity as possible.
Generally speaking, that proved to be the case. The Astros didn’t do much to bring in talent from the outside the organization, although they wound up not bringing everyone who was instrumental to their recent success back. That was most evident in the players they lost to free agency, but the team’s first notable departure was a member of the coaching staff. Longtime pitching coach Brent Strom — generally regarded as one of the game’s best given Houston’s seeming never-ending stable of quality arms — stepped down shortly after the World Series. He’d eventually take the same position with the Diamondbacks.
Houston promoted two of Strom’s lieutenants, Josh Miller and Bill Murphy, to take on co-pitching coach duties. The rest of the staff stayed mostly the same, and for the third consecutive season, they’ll be led by veteran skipper Dusty Baker. Houston signed Baker to a one-year contract extension in November. It was a bit of a surprise to see such a short-term commitment given how adeptly Baker has taken the reigns since replacing A.J. Hinch in the midst of the sign-stealing fallout. In either event, the three-time Manager of the Year winner is back and will soon become the 12th person in MLB history to reach 2,000 career victories.
Extending Baker seemed like a fairly easy call for the front office, but they probably devoted even less time to their next couple decisions. Exercising an $8MM option on Yuli Gurriel was a no-brainer after he won the batting title in 2021. So too was handing Carlos Correa a qualifying offer; there might’ve been a little more debate about whether to QO Justin Verlander, considering he’d missed essentially the entire last two seasons recovering from Tommy John surgery.
Ultimately, however, Verlander looked as if he’d receive and reject a QO, particularly after Houston owner Jim Crane remarked in September that Verlander was seeking a multi-year deal. The $18.4MM QO price would still have been a bargain if the eight-time All-Star picked up where he left off upon returning, as he posted a 2.58 ERA in a league-best 223 innings in 2019. The Astros had as good a view as anyone on Verlander’s form throughout his recovery, and they seemed optimistic about his chances of returning to the top of a rotation.
Verlander rejected the QO as expected, but that wasn’t a precursor to a free agent departure. Less than an hour after announcing that decision, he and team agreed to a $25MM deal to keep him in Houston in 2022. That wasn’t technically the multi-year deal Crane indicated Verlander had been seeking, but he can vest a $25MM player option for the following season if he reaches 130 innings this year. If he stays healthy, Verlander should eclipse that mark with ease and lock in some extra financial security while still having the option to explore free agency next winter. The vesting option provides the team cover in the event he has an injury setback. (Through two starts, Verlander has looked like his old self, averaging north of 95 MPH on his fastball with 15 strikeouts and three walks in 13 innings).
With Verlander back, the Astros solidified a starting staff that should again be among the league’s best. Framber Valdez, Luis Garcia and José Urquidy each eclipsed 100 innings with an ERA of 3.62 or lower last season. Veteran Jake Odorizzi gives them an experienced back-of-the-rotation option. Lance McCullers Jr. will miss the first couple months of the year after his recovery from last postseason’s flexor tendon strain has dragged longer than anticipated. If he returns for the stretch run and matches last year’s form, though, Houston should have a very strong top six arms.
The Astros did lose Zack Greinke to free agency, subtracting some stability and innings from the group. Grienke is no longer an ace, but he soaked up 171 roughly average frames last season over 30 appearances. That’s valuable, but between Verlander’s return and the presence of Odorizzi and swingman Cristian Javier, the Astros felt equipped to weather it.
For now, Javier is in the bullpen, where he spent the bulk of last season. The right-hander started his first nine outings in 2021 but eventually got squeezed out of the rotation. Javier’s control wavered, but he struck out an excellent 30.7% of opposing hitters en route to a 3.55 ERA in 101 1/3 innings. Whether he eventually moves back to the rotation or settles in as a bulk relief option, he adds another exciting multi-inning arm to the mix.
Keeping Javier in relief strengthens the relative weak point on the roster. The Astros’ bullpen was a middle-of-the-pack group last year. It certainly wasn’t catastrophic, but it’s the least exceptional part of the club. The club picked up Kendall Graveman in a deadline deal with the division-rival Mariners, but he signed a three-year deal with the White Sox this winter. Not coincidentally, the bullpen is the one area where the team made a notable investment to bring in a player from outside.
Houston signed former Phillies closer Héctor Neris to a two-year, $17MM guarantee. The right-hander had a bit of an inconsistent tenure in Philadelphia, but he was effective on the whole and is coming off a nice season. He fanned 31.6% of opposing hitters and induced ground-balls at a solid 47.1% clip last year. He also doesn’t have particularly marked platoon splits throughout his career. Neris has been better against same-handed opponents (.208/.272/.373), but he’s also managed solid production against southpaws (.231/.324/.387).
That’s of particular importance for a Houston team that lost lefty Brooks Raley to free agency. Blake Taylor and rookie Parker Mushinski are the only left-handers in the late innings mix for Baker. Houston signed veterans Zac Rosscup and Adam Morgan to minor league deals as insurance, but it’s not a great group of southpaws overall. With righties like Neris, Ryne Stanek and Phil Maton having had success against lefties in the past, general manager James Click and his staff elected not to invest in another lefty arm.
Those players will all bridge the gap to All-Star closer Ryan Pressly, who has been one of the sport’s top late-inning weapons over the past four years. The Astros rewarded him for that run of success with a Spring Training extension that guarantees $30MM through 2024 and stops him from hitting the open market at the end of this season, when his contract had originally been set to expire. The deal, which also contains a 2025 vesting option, keeps a key bullpen piece around for the next few years, during which the team should remain a contender.
That’s a testament to the strength of both Houston’s young starting pitching and their across-the-board excellence in the lineup. Click and his staff didn’t have to make many changes to the position player group. Martín Maldonado and Jason Castro are back as the catching tandem, freeing Houston up to deal third catcher Garrett Stubbs to the Phillies in a minor trade. That’s not a great offensive duo, but both veteran backstops are highly-regarded defenders.
The Astros can afford to live with lackluster hitting behind the dish because of the strength of the lineup elsewhere. Gurriel is back at first base, José Altuve is at the keystone, and Alex Bregman is at third base. Michael Brantley and Kyle Tucker make for one of the top corner outfield pairings in the game. Yordan Álvarez can rotate into the corner outfield while continuing to mash as the designated hitter. The Astros don’t have household names in center field, but even there, they’re well-positioned.
Chas McCormick, José Siri and Jake Meyers all had strong rookie showings last year, performing well enough that Houston felt comfortable dealing Myles Straw to Cleveland at the deadline to bring in Maton. None of McCormick, Siri or Meyers (the latter of whom is currently on the injured list after undergoing shoulder surgery) would rule the Astros out from landing a star. Houston has inquired about Bryan Reynolds and reportedly touched base with Starling Marte’s camp in free agency. Center field isn’t a dire need, though, and the Astros felt comfortable rolling into the season with their internal options after not landing a marquee name.
That, of course, brings us to the one spot on the diamond where the Astros were faced with their biggest decision: whether to bring back Correa on a free agent megadeal. At the outset of the offseason, Houston presented the star shortstop with a five-year, $160MM offer. That never seemed likely to get Correa’s attention, and it looked as if he’d wind up departing. Yet Correa’s stay on the open market lingered unexpectedly, with a mid-lockout agency switch to the Boras Corporation perhaps contributing to the signing delay for free agency’s top player.
Once the lockout was lifted and Spring Training got underway, Ken Rosenthal of the Athletic reported the Astros were set to make Correa a new offer. That generated some speculation the two-time All-Star could return to Houston after all, but that proved not to be. Correa eventually signed an opt-out laden three-year, $105.3MM deal with the Twins. That wasn’t the long-term commitment most had expected for the 27-year-old, but he received the second-largest average annual salary for a position player in MLB history and an opportunity to test the market again next winter.
Precisely what the Astros put on the table at the end is unclear, although Scott Boras told Joel Sherman of the New York Post that Houston wouldn’t go beyond five years. By the time Correa agreed to terms with Minnesota, Corey Seager, Marcus Semien and Javier Báez had all long since signed elsewhere. That left Trevor Story as the lone top free agent shortstop remaining.
The Astros were tied to Story throughout the winter, and they reengaged with his camp late in the process. Sherman tweeted that Houston and the Giants were among the three finalists for the former Rockies star, but he ultimately landed in Boston on a six-year deal. Once Story inked his $140MM pact with the Red Sox, it became clear top prospect Jeremy Peña was going to take the reins in Houston.
Peña has started 11 of the team’s first 12 games at the position. A gifted defender, he entered the season with just 30 games above A-ball after missing most of last year on the injured list. Peña has been fantastic in his first couple weeks in the majors, and the Astros would obviously love if he takes the job and runs with it. Houston has bat-first veteran Aledmys Díaz on hand, and they also inked former Tigers utilityman Niko Goodrum to a one-year deal to add depth at multiple spots around the diamond. Detroit non-tendered Goodrum after a second consecutive poor offensive season, but he was a capable player on both sides of the ball in 2018-19 and makes for a fine add to the bench.
Losing Correa is unquestionably a blow, and the Astros could face stiffer competition from the Mariners and Angels this year than they have in recent seasons. Yet the departure of their star shortstop alone won’t be enough to knock Houston from the ranks of the AL favorites, particularly if Peña can step right in as an above-average player in his own right. The Astros didn’t make many big additions last offseason, but they didn’t need to. The bulk of the group that has led five straight playoff runs is still around, and the window remains wide open for Houston to make another run at a World Series.
Astros Place Jose Altuve On Injured List, Select J.J. Matijevic
The Astros announced today that Jose Altuve has been placed on the injured list with a left hamstring strain. J.J. Matijevic had his contract selected to take Altuve’s place on the active roster. To make space on the 40-man, Taylor Jones was transferred from the 10-day to the 60-day IL.
Altuve had been removed from Monday’s game with the hamstring issue and then sat out yesterday’s game. Although it appeared that Altuve might just miss a few games, it now appears the club will give him a stint on the IL to get healed up. He’s off to a slow start this year, hitting just .167/.268/.250 in his first 41 plate appearances.
Matijevic, 26, will make his MLB debut as soon as he gets into a game. Selected by the Astros 75th overall in the 2017 draft, Matijevic was recently ranked the #39 prospect in the organization by Baseball America. Their report praised the power in his bat but noted that he needed to improve his first base defense. He’s off to a torrid start at the plate this year, hitting four home runs in his first 11 games and slashing .310/.420/.714. While primarily a first baseman, he’s also seen significant time in left field.
Jones was placed on the 10-day IL a couple of weeks ago with a lower back injury, though it now appears it’s serious enough to keep him on the shelf until at least June.
Astros Transfer Lance McCullers Jr. To 60-Day Injured List
The Astros transferred starter Lance McCullers Jr. from the 10-day to the 60-day injured list this evening, tweets Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle. The move opens a spot on the 40-man roster for slugging outfielder Yordan Álvarez, who has been reinstated from the COVID-19 IL. Infielder Joe Perez was optioned to Triple-A Sugar Land to clear an active roster spot for Álvarez.
The move rules McCullers out for 60 days from the date of his original IL placement, April 4. He’ll be eligible to return to the big leagues during the first week of June, but he could begin a minor league rehab assignment before then if he’s healthy enough to do so. In either event, it’s clear the team didn’t anticipate McCullers being ready to contribute in the majors any time soon.
He continues to work his way back from a flexor tendon strain in his forearm, which he suffered during last year’s postseason. While it was initially believed he’d be ready for Opening Day — if not perhaps able to pitch through the injury during the 2021 World Series — McCullers admitted over the winter that he’d not healed as quickly as expected. The 28-year-old partially attributed his lack of progress to the lockout, which kept players on the 40-man roster from communicating with team medical personnel between the start of December and the second week of March.
McCullers fortunately had at least progressed to playing catch by last week, but it’s clear he’ll need some time to build up arm strength. He’ll require a throwing program before he’s able to embark on a rehab assignment, and he’ll surely need a couple starts to log some innings in the minors before returning to the big league rotation. There’s little question Houston will be cautious with their prized right-hander, who finished seventh in AL Cy Young balloting last season and is in the first season of a five-year, $85MM contract.
Houston has opened the season with a starting five of Framber Valdez, Jake Odorizzi, José Urquidy, Justin Verlander and Luis Garcia. Even without McCullers, that’s one of the league’s stronger quintets. Cristian Javier is working in relief but appears to be the top depth option. He’s coming off a promising 2021 and has tossed 4 2/3 scoreless innings with eight strikeouts so far this year.
Álvarez, meanwhile, is now in position to return to the lineup for the first time in a week. He has missed the past five games battling what manager Dusty Baker had called a stomach bug. Baker suggested last week he might ease Álvarez back into action, but he’ll reclaim his spot as a middle-of-the-order presence in Houston fairly shortly.
Astros Place Ryan Pressly On 10-Day Injured List
The Astros have placed closer Ryan Pressly on the 10-day injured list with right knee inflammation (retroactive to April 14), per Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle and others (via Twitter). In a corresponding move, Parker Mushinski has been called up to join the Major League team. Mushinski will make his debut if he finds his way into a ballgame.
Pressly has appeared in four games this season, earning three saves in 3 1/3 innings of work. The 33-year-old Dallas native is in his third season since taking over as the full-time closer in Houston. Without him, Houston could turn to former Phillies’ closer Hector Neris, or simply go closer-by-committee. Any number of Houston relievers have late-game experience. Rafael Montero has 15 career saves, and while Ryne Stanek, Pedro Baez, and Phil Maton don’t have much closing experience, they’re seasoned vets who could no doubt stomach the challenge of the game’s final frame.
The decision to add Mushinski could be in part because he’s a southpaw. Blake Taylor is the only lefty currently in manager Dusty Baker‘s bullpen. The 26-year-old Mushinski made it to Triple-A for the first time last season – and including this year’s four appearances – the Texas native has tossed 17 1/3 innings for the Sugar Land Space Cowboys, posting a 2.08 ERA in that small sample.
Astros Place Yordan Alvarez On Injured List
6:20pm: Álvarez has not tested positive, manager Dusty Baker told reporters (including Brian McTaggart of MLB.com). He has traveled with the team to Seattle and could soon be activated, although Baker added he’d give Álvarez a couple days to get back into game shape before penciling him into the lineup.
5:45pm: The Astros have placed star outfielder/designated hitter Yordan Álvarez on the COVID-19 injured list, tweets Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle. It isn’t clear whether Álvarez tested positive or is simply experiencing virus-like symptoms. Corner infielder Joe Perez has been recalled from Triple-A Sugar Land to take his spot on the active roster.
Álvarez hasn’t played since Sunday. He missed the Astros’ two-game set in Arizona this week with an illness that manager Dusty Baker characterized as a stomach bug. He’ll obviously miss tonight’s game against the Mariners at the very least, with the extent of his absence depending on whether he’s tested positive.
Under the league’s 2022 health-and-safety protocols, players who test positive are subject to a 10-day absence from the club, though it’s possible to be reinstated in less time if the player has gone 24 or more hours without a fever, received a pair of negative PCR tests, and been given approval from a team physician and the MLB/MLBPA joint committee (a panel of one league-appointed and one union-appointed physician). If Álvarez is “merely” dealing with symptoms, he could return in shorter order. Players who test negative can return once their symptoms dissipate, so long as they’re cleared by the joint committee and the team doctor.
Álvarez, of course, is one of the game’s best offensive players. The 24-year-old slugger is coming off a .277/.346/.531 showing with 33 home runs in 598 plate appearances. He hasn’t gotten off to a great start this year, collecting two hits and three walks in 17 trips to the dish over four games.
Astros Outright Tyler Ivey
Astros righty Tyler Ivey went unclaimed on outright waivers and has been assigned to Triple-A Sugar Land, tweets Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle. Houston designated Ivey for assignment last week when selecting the contract of reliever Ronel Blanco — their final move before setting their Opening Day roster.
That Ivey, 25, went unclaimed is at least a moderate surprise, given his relative youth, his broader track record of minor league success and the fact that he has multiple minor league option years remaining. A team wasn’t going to claim Ivey and plug him directly into the rotation, but he’d have made a sensible enough depth option for another organization that is thin on big league-ready arms.
Instead, the Astros will be able to retain Ivey in hopes that he can recapture the form he showed in 2018 (112 innings of 2.97 ERA ball between two Class-A levels) and 2019 (1.57 ERA in 46 Double-A frames).
Ivey was limited to just 13 minor league innings and another 4 2/3 innings in the big leagues last season, thanks to a nerve issue in his pitching elbow that he detailed last June. That injury and the subsequent treatment — he underwent a non-surgical treatment for thoracic outlet syndrome, Rome reported last August — could well have played a role in Ivey passing through waivers. He was healthy enough to take the mound this spring, although he only logged one inning in one official game for the Astros.
Even with Lance McCullers Jr. on the injured list, Houston’s rotation is set for the foreseeable future. Justin Verlander, Framber Valdez, Jose Urquidy, Luis Garcia and Jake Odorizzi give the Astros a strong quintet upon which to lean while McCullers mends, and talented righty Cristian Javier gives them a sixth MLB-caliber option, though he’s currently in the bullpen. Triple-A righties Brandon Bielak and Peter Solomon are both on the 40-man roster and have MLB experience as well, and former top prospect Forrest Whitley is making his way back from a notable arm injury of his own (Tommy John surgery).
If Ivey is back to full strength at some point this year, it wouldn’t be a shock to see him work his way back into MLB consideration. In 215 1/3 career minor league innings, the 2017 third-rounder has a 3.13 ERA with a 29.5% strikeout rate and an 8.1% walk rate.