Injury update
Outfielder Jake Marisnick could be out until September.
Jake Marisnick will be “out a little bit” with the left groin injury he suffered in the Astros’ 5-2 loss to the Mariners on Friday.
Marisnick underwent an MRI on Saturday. One day later, manager A.J. Hinch intimated the speedy outfielder could be out until September.
“He’s going to play again (this season),” Hinch said Sunday. “Whether that’s a couple weeks or three weeks, we’re not going to know, but it’s less likely that he’s going to play until toward the end of the month or into next month when rosters expand. He’s not able, at least for the next few weeks.”
Marisnick left Friday’s game after feeling a pull in his groin when he departed the batter’s box on a double. His prolonged absence, coupled with George
Springer’s current stint on the disabled list, will ostensibly mean more regular time for
Derek Fisher and Kyle Tucker.
Recalled Saturday afternoon as a corresponding move for Marisnick’s going on the DL, Tucker was in Sunday’s lineup, hitting eighth and playing left field. His return to the major leagues arrives after an eightgame demotion to Class AAA, where he hit three home runs and a double.
“Whenever you’re hitting the ball well, it’s good, and you have more fun playing it. I was feeling good,” Tucker said. “I’m going to pretty much do what I’ve been doing in Triple-A. I got sent down, got eight games down there and did pretty well. Going to try to carry that to the big leagues.”
Tucker finished 0-for-3 in Sunday’s 4-3, 10-inning loss to the Mariners, but he was hit by a pitch to start a three-run eighth inning that temporarily gave the Astros a 3-2 led.
Whitley scheduled for Hooks return
Forrest Whitley is slated to start Tuesday’s game for Class AA Corpus Christi, concluding his monthlong stint on the minor league disabled list.
Whitley, the Astros’ top overall prospect according to Baseball America, exited after 17 pitches during his July 5 start with a left oblique injury. The 6-7 righthander was placed on the DL one day later, curtailing an abbreviated campaign. Whitley did not begin his season until June 8 after serving a 50-game suspension for a violation of Minor League Baseball’s Drug Prevention and Treatment Program.
In the six starts preceding his injury, Whitley allowed 10 earned runs in 211⁄3 innings while striking out 30.
Scott bests field of slugging alums
In a scintillating conclusion to Legends Weekend at Minute Maid Park, 40-year-old Luke Scott outslugged 52-year-old Hall of Famer Craig Biggio during an Alumni Home Run Derby held prior to Sunday’s matinee against the Mariners.
A nine-year vet who made his major league debut with the Astros in 2005 and was with the franchise through 2007, Scott hit 13 home runs across two rounds, cranking some to the second deck in right field.
Biggio hit eight during his first round, most pulled into the Crawford Boxes in left field, before managing just three in the final round.
Geoff Blum and Preston Wilson rounded out the fourperson field. Blum managed three home runs. Wilson hit six but was edged by Scott in the first round.