No structural damage to Peacock’s shoulder
An MRI on Brad Peacock’s sore right shoulder revealed no structural damage, just inflammation that the righthander estimated he has fought for his last “four or five starts.”
“It was at the point where it was tough to play catch the next day (after a start),” Peacock said Saturday. “I don’t want to hurt anything worse.”
Peacock said he will play catch again in “about a week.” The Astros could target the July 14 series finale against the Texas Rangers for his return to the rotation, but neither Peacock nor manager A.J. Hinch was committal to that timetable.
In his last 25⅓ innings, Peacock had a 6.39 ERA and allowed eight home runs.
“It’s just one of those things where I could pitch through it, but that would hurt the team,” Peacock said. “It just trickles down to the bullpen, and I know we’re worn out down there, too.”
The Astros remain unsure who will fill Peacock’s spot in the starting rotation on Tuesday against Colorado. The leading candidates is Cy Sneed —arecent minor league call-up who threw six innings of relief during Peacock’s last start on Thursday.
Rogelio Armenteros and Cionel Perez are options, too, from Class AAA Round Rock.
Hinch sees progress for ailing Alvarez
Yordan Alvarez remained out of the Astros’ starting lineup with a sore left knee Saturday, but manager A.J. Hinch sounded optimistic about the rookie slugger’s prognosis.
Alvarez hit pregame batting practice and the Astros were hopeful he could be available as a pinch hitter. The 22-year-old phenom fouled a ball off his knee during Tuesday’s game against Pittsburgh and felt the pain increase while playing left field in Thursday’s game.
“He’s better and we’re happy with where he’s at,” Hinch said. “I’m not going to play him until I’m convinced he can move in the batter’s box normally and be able to complete a game. He’ll do some activity today. He’s going to hit and move around a little bit more. We’ll evaluate where he’s at.”
Alvarez has seven home runs in his first 57 major league atbats. His 30 home runs between the major and minor leagues are the most by any player this season.
Straw getting to play more at shortstop
Though Myles Straw’s defense is still developing, the speedy prospect started at shortstop Saturday for the second time in three games.
Manager A.J. Hinch hopes Straw can afford the Astros’ struggling lineup a different dimension. The Astros have stranded 89 baserunners in its last 10 games while scoring just 3.4 runs per contest.
“I like having him in the lineup,” Hinch said. “His contact rate is really good. His speed is excellent. He adds a dimension to our lineup that we don’t have a lot of and that gets him into the lineup. The only way I could do it with the configuration today was in short.”
Straw singled in his only at-bat during Friday’s 2-1, 10-inning win. Inserted as a pinch runner during the seventh, Straw missed third base while en route to scoring the tying run. Instead, he was forced to stop at third after the folly and the Astros did not score in the inning.
An outfielder for his professional career prior to this season, Straw is 12-for-39 since he was summoned from Class AAA Round Rock in Carlos Correa’s absence. Three of his 11 starts have been at shortstop.
The organization introduced Straw to shortstop at the beginning of this minor league season. He started 25 of his 46 games there for the Express, committing five errors in 93 chances. Straw has totaled just 11 chances as a major league shortstop and handled them all without an error.
Making the standard plays has slowly become routine. Straw’s next step, according to Hinch, is playing the position with more freedom and instinct.
“We can always place him wherever we want him at the beginning of the play and then when the play goes on, his instincts often have to take over,” Hinch said. “I think that’s what he has to get used to.
“We need him to be a little more confident in his throws, and he’s going to have to learn how to play the position a little less structured and a little more freestyled. You’ve got to make throws from different angles, you have to play on the run sometimes, you have to lay back sometimes. But that only comes with game reps.”