Altuve nearing return from COVID-19 IL
Second baseman Jose Altuve, who remains in health and safety protocols, could return to the Astros’ lineup as early as this weekend’s series against the Angels, manager Dusty Baker said Thursday.
“He’s doing much better,” Baker said. “We hope we get to see him. Perhaps there’s a chance even this weekend or early next week. He’ll be a big boost. We miss him tremendously. Just not only him as a player but him as a person.”
The Astros began a four-game home series against the Angels on Thursday night. It will be followed by a four-game home series versus the Mariners.
Altuve was one of five Astros placed on the injured list for health and safety protocols on April 14. While Alex Bregman, Yordan Alvarez, Martin Maldonado and Robel Garcia have since returned to action, Altuve remains sidelined.
The Astros have declined to confirm whether any of the five tested positive for COVID-19.
“He’s able to lift and run and do some things,” Baker said of Altuve. “He hasn’t started hitting yet, but I think he can hit off a tee into a screen or something. … I text him almost daily, so his spirits are good. He sounds good.”
The Astros have struggled tremendously at the plate in recent weeks, and the shortcomings are even more pronounced in Altuve’s absence. Altuve is batting .318/.380/.834 this season with 14 hits, 11 runs, five RBIs and one home run.
With Altuve out, the Astros have shuffled leadoff duties among Kyle Tucker, Myles Straw and Chas McCormick. Against the Angels on Thursday, Carlos Correa was scheduled to lead off for the first time in his career.
Correa will remain atop the order until Altuve’s return.
“He’s only there because Altuve is gone,” Baker said. “Altuve is doing pretty good batting leadoff. I’m just hoping that it doesn’t take him very long to find his stroke when he comes back.”
Help on the way for pitching staff
The disintegrating Astros bullpen finally appears to be on the mend, just in time for a marathon portion of the schedule.
Thursday night’s matchup versus the Angels kicked off a stretch of games in 11 consecutive days for the Astros, who have just one day off scheduled through May 16.
The Astros’ pitching has been dreadful lately with no reliable options. “It seems like no matter who you turn to right now, it’s the wrong decision,” manager Dusty Baker said Tuesday after a 6-2 loss to the Rockies.
But there’s optimism that the upcoming streak of games is an opportunity to turn things around.
“It’s been a weird start to the year,” reliever Joe Smith said. “We’ve always rolled best when we’re playing games, when we can get our hitters everyday at-bats getting out there. We’re going to see the offense that we know we have. And then I think we’re starting to figure out the pitching, starting to see who can do what. And it’s going to come around. We’re a great baseball team. We just haven’t put it together.”
Smith, who opted out of the 2020 season, has struggled to return to the form he showed in 2019. He has a 14.40 ERA in eight appearances and in five innings has yielded 11 hits and two home runs. Smith said that although he’s been frustrated, he’s been able to get some velocity back on his slider and feels good about his sinker. Now, it’s a matter of consistency.
“I know the results have been absolutely horrible,” he said. “But in Seattle, the outing I had in Seattle, which was still not good, was probably the first day since camp that I actually felt like, ‘All right, we’re on to something. I’m getting better.’ ”
Righthander Cristian Javier made the start Thursday after spending the previous 12 days at the alternate training site to increase his stamina.
“We’re hoping he can go maybe 100 pitches. I think he’s gone 90, 95 at the alternate site,” Baker said.
The Astros should also benefit from the return of Lance McCullers Jr., who will start the series finale Sunday after skipping his last turn in the rotation. McCullers said he is fully recovered from respiratory issues he believes were the result of a COVID-19 vaccine.
“We have a lot of technology now that can kind of show you where your body’s at,” he said. “The day after my start or two days after, I was at about 20 to 30 percent strengthwise. And then as of yesterday, I’m back up to 100. So I’m feeling ready to roll.”
Baker also said a pair of relievers on the injured list, Andre Scrubb and Enoli Paredes, are making progress toward a return.
“Scrubb is closer than Paredes. But, I mean, that is big. Huge,” Baker said. “I mean, that’s a power side of our bullpen that we’ve been missing. And both those guys were a big part of what we did last year.”