Sipp placed on DL with oblique soreness
MINNEAPOLIS — Tony Sipp landed on the 10-day disabled list with right oblique soreness prior to Tuesday’s game against the Twins, leaving the Astros with an entirely righthanded bullpen for the immediate future.
Sipp reported soreness “a couple of days ago,” manager A.J. Hinch said Tuesday and was unavailable in the team’s previous few games.
Sipp’s DL stint is retroactive to April 8, meaning he can return for the third game of the Astros’ four-game series at Seattle next week. Hinch said the club anticipates a “really short stay” for Sipp, whose spot on the active roster was taken by James Hoyt.
Hoyt, coincidentally, began his season on the 10-day disabled list with an oblique injury. He threw one scoreless inning in a rehab assignment at Class AAA Fresno before being recalled on Tuesday.
“I wanted to rush it to just make sure I had the opportunity to come back up here whenever they needed me, but at the same time, I didn’t want to put myself in a position to have it linger all year,” said Hoyt, who permitted 12 hits and eight earned runs in 81⁄3 Grapefruit League innings.
“I feel good. I felt like I was progressing really well. Obviously started off a little rocky and eventually got my feet under me, and (I) felt like every outing kept getting better and better.”
Effective with Tuesday night’s game at Target Field, Hoyt joined the six other righthanders in a bullpen sans southpaws.
Missing a lefthanded reliever is somewhat unconventional, yes, but not concerning to Hinch. Chris Devenski handled a pocket of lefthanded hitters in Monday’s 2-0 win.
Lefthanded hitters are just 8-for-60 against him since July.
Brad Peacock and Will Harris held lefthanders to a .760 OPS or lower last season, too.
“The handedness side is nice if you have it, but you want guys to be good at it and get guys out,” Hinch said. “We have some matchup guys that match well; Hoyt can get lefties out with his split. So maybe it doesn’t lead you to the path of bringing in guys that you’re used to bringing in — like a left-on-left matchup — but so be it.”
Bregman battles some early woes
Alex Bregman reached first base, removed his helmet and slammed it on the dirt. A soft ground ball to pitcher Trevor Hildenberger ended the seventh inning of Monday’s 2-0 win over the Twins and prolonged Bregman’s early-season malaise.
Entering Tuesday’s game, Bregman had mustered just seven hits in his first 40 at-bats. Only two were extra-base hits, though he has drawn nine walks to keep a .327 on-base percentage while his offense sputters.
Manager A.J. Hinch hinted Bregman, like most of his teammates, is expanding his strike zone and swinging out of it. The Astros had seven double-digit strikeout games across their first 11. They had 21 double-digit strikeout games all of last season.
Bregman’s strikeout numbers are not alarming — just five in 49 plate appearances — but his recent fly-ball propensity does not lend itself to reaching for pitches outside the zone.
Of his balls in play, Bregman has hit 13 fly balls and 13 ground balls. One of those 26 found grass for a hit — that zany walkoff infield popup single the Padres neglected to catch on Saturday.
Six of his seven hits have been line drives off the bat.
“He’s hitting the ball in the air to an extreme and not getting anything to show for it,” Hinch said. “Bregman is getting a little bit in between fastballs and breaking balls, and if he’s going to swing at the rate he’s swinging now, he has to make sure he’s in the strike zone.”