Bregman will miss at least three weeks
SAN DIEGO — Astros third baseman Alex Bregman will be sidelined at least three weeks with a strained right hamstring, general manager James Click said Sunday during an interview on the team’s radio broadcast.
Bregman suffered the injury during Wednesday’s win over the Rockies and was placed on the injured list the next day. Bregman flew back to Houston for further evaluation, but manager Dusty Baker did not know much about his condition before Sunday’s game.
“We’re hoping it’s a threeweek thing,” Click told the Astros’ radio broadcast. “Initially, that’s kind of the timetable we’re looking at. But, obviously, with all of these things, we have to be patient. We have to wait for things to calm down there and see how he responds to treatment.”
Bregman suffered a similar injury in September 2016 that carried a similar timeline laid out by Click. If Bregman is sidelined for exactly three weeks, he’d return with just 2½ weeks remaining in the 60-game regular season.
Brantley day-to-day in return from IL
Although Michael Brantley returned to the Astros’ starting lineup Sunday, the team will still exercise day-to-day caution when determining whether he can play defense.
On Sunday, Brantley batted sixth as the designated hitter. Manager Dusty Baker had intimated earlier in the week that when Brantley returned, he would do so as the team’s starting left fielder.
“He’s on a day-to-day basis depending on how much running he does,” Baker said Sunday. “It depends on the workload that he has on the bases. We’ll see. I’ve got a day-to-day lineup depending on how he feels and what the workload was the day before.”
Brantley has nursed a sore right quad since July 28. Baker slotted him at designated hitter in every game after that date, but Brantley was forced to the injured list on Aug. 12.
Brantley has made it known he does not like DHing, but acknowledged Sunday he might have to at least start his return there in hopes he does not reaggravate his quad. Kyle Tucker’s continued production allows Baker to play Brantley at DH for now and leave Tucker in left field.
“Everything is going well,” Brantley said. “I did a lot of work the last two days just to get back and make sure that I’m ready to come back, and I am.”
Asked why he does not like being a designated hitter, Brantley said, “I think it’s actually something that takes a lot of skill. I’d never DHed, and hats off to those guys that DH in the past or that do it today. It’s about finding a rhythm and finding a routine that works for you, staying in the game mentally and physically when your at-bat doesn’t come up for two innings.”
Alvarez to 45-day IL in procedural move
The Astros placed Yordan Alvarez on the 45-day injured list Sunday to make room for righthander Chase De Jong on the 40-man roster.
Alvarez will undergo seasonending knee surgery this week. The move Sunday was procedural and executed to open a 40man roster spot for a fresh arm following Brandon Bielak’s disastrous start Saturday. De Jong traveled with the Astros as part of their four-man taxi squad during the road trip.
In a corresponding move, Houston optioned righthander Humberto Castellanos back to its alternate training site. Manager Dusty Baker labeled Castellanos a “sacrificial lamb” and lauded him for saving the bullpen during Saturday’s 13-2 loss against the Padres.
Castellanos relieved Bielak with one out in the second inning. The rookie righthander allowed four earned runs but, more importantly, finished three innings for a bullpen that could not afford to burn through arms. Including Castellanos, Houston used just three relievers during the game, leaving the remainder of its bullpen in fair shape for Sunday’s series finale.
“It’s not anything that (Castellanos) has done or hasn’t done,” Baker said. “He actually put us in a better position (on Saturday). You hate to have a sacrificial lamb, but he was kind of it last night to save our bullpen. We’re going to try to get him back at some point in time because you appreciate everything the young man does to help save your staff.”
Astros want to some to train in Houston
While their alternate training site in Corpus Christi remains shut down because of a positive COVID-19 test, the Astros are asking Major League Baseball for permission to allow some of their major league players to join the club in Houston and continue their rehabilitation.
Manager Dusty Baker did not have a clear timetable for a decision or whether the league will honor the club’s request.
The Astros shut down their facility at Whataburger Field following a positive COVID-19 test last week. General manager James Click said no members of the major league team or traveling party were implicated during contact tracing protocols.
Players and staff in Corpus Christi are in isolation while awaiting further test results. The team does not know when those results will arrive, leaving things in limbo for a few players the Astros desperately need back on their big league roster.
Baker mentioned utility man Aledmys Diaz along with pitchers Jose Urquidy and Chris Devenski as candidates to travel back to Houston and continue working out if the league allows it.
On deck: Los Angeles Angels at Astros
When/where: Today, Tuesday and Wednesday at 8:10 p.m., Thursday at 2:10 p.m.; Minute Maid Park.
TV/radio: ATTSW; 790 AM and 850 AM (Spanish).
Pitchers: Today, LHP Framber Valdez (2-2, 1.72) vs. LHP Patrick Sandoval (0-3, 5.40); Tuesday, RHP Cristian Javier (2-1, 3.55) vs. LHP Jose Suarez (0-1, 33.75); Wednesday, RHP Lance McCullers Jr. (2-2, 5.74) vs.LHP Andrew Heaney (1-2, 5.52); Thursday, TBD vs. RHP Griffin Canning (0-3, 4.88).
Astros (15-13) update: A threegame sweep at the hands of the Padres dropped Houston 4½ games behind Oakland in the AL West. …Valdez’s 1.00 ERA for August is the lowest in the majors among qualifiers. … Rookie reliever Andre Scrubb hasn’t allowed a run in his first 10 major league appearances. The only other Astros to accomplish that feat were Tom Martin (first 12 appearances in 1997) and Mike Gallo (first 11 appearances in 2003). … Carlos Correa has played a franchise-record 85 consecutive errorless games at shortstop. The major league mark is 110 by Baltimore’s Mike Bordick in 2002. Angels (9-20) update: Threetime MVP Mike Trout, who was on paternity leave the first time the Astros faced Los Angeles this season, has a low-for-him OPS of .952 but is tied for second in the AL with 10 home runs and tied for fourth with 25 RBIs. … Anthony Rendon has a 13-game hitting streak during which he’s 25for-52 (.481) with five homers and 12 RBIs. His. 1.012 OPS for the season ranks 12th in the majors. … Angels starting pitchers have an ERA of 5.96, second-worst in the majors to Detroit’s 7.63. … With 659 career homers, Albert Pujols is one shy of tying Willie Mays for fifth all-time.
“They were pretty close, and it’s going to hurt their progress in the immediate future,” Baker said. “We were hoping they’d be ready at some point this week. Those are the guys that are closest and closest to helping us. That’d be big to get those guys back.”