Báez expects to make debut in two weeks
Astros pitcher Pedro Báez finally made an appearance at Minute Maid Park on Tuesday — though not quite in the capacity the organization has hoped for.
Báez has yet to pitch for the Astros this season after contracting COVID-19 during spring training and then subsequently injuring his shoulder. On Tuesday, he donned an Astros uniform to throw a bullpen session in front of the major league staff before he embarks on the final leg of his minor league rehab assignment with Class AAA Sugar Land later this week in Oklahoma City.
“I feel really good, feel really happy to be here with the guys after so much time off just waiting for this moment to get here,” Báez said in Spanish through an interpreter. “I think in about two weeks I should be able to, hopefully, be back. As long as things go according to plan as they should, then that should be the time frame for me to be back.”
Báez completed the first portion of his rehab assignment with two appearances for Class A Fayetteville last week. The righthander tossed two scoreless innings while yielding one hit, one walk and one strikeout. He said he expects to have “a couple outings” with the Triple-A squad starting Thursday or Friday.
“The velocity is coming back little by little. It’s just a matter of continuing to work and get it back to where I want it to be at,” he said. “I’ve got a little bit of inflammation in my shoulder, and they told me I had a little bit of irritation there, so that’s why I’ve spent so much time recovering from that injury. … It was really frustrating for me because I never felt some kind of bother like that in my shoulder before, but thank God that things are going well and I’m back on track to getting back to the team.”
Astros manager Dusty Baker joined Báez on his walk from the bullpen back to the dugout.
“He has a little work to do, but he said he felt good. That’s No. 1,” Baker said. “We’ll see how it goes. I just kind of told him we want him when he’s ready. That is hopefully sooner rather than later.”
The Astros entered Tuesday tied with the Red Sox for the American League’s second-best record (57-38), trailing only the White Sox.
“I think they’ve had a really good season so far,” Báez said. “Got off to a little bit of a slow start, but then they’ve been consistently very good since then. So God willing, it’ll be a team that’s able to get very deep into October.”
Bregman moving closer to rehab stint
A minor league rehab assignment has been a moving target for Alex Bregman, but the Astros third baseman took another step Tuesday by running the bases at a higher intensity at Minute Maid Park.
Bregman initially hoped to join Class AAA Sugar Land this week for a road series in his hometown of Albuquerque, N.M. That opportunity came and went as the Astros determined he was not ready. The Skeeters begin a six-game road series Thursday, and Bregman said it is possible he could join the team in Oklahoma City.
“Hoping less than a week. Got a few more running sessions and a few more boxes to check, but hopefully less than a week, and then go down and get a few at-bats, enough to feel comfortable and then back at it,” he said. “Sad I couldn’t go home and make it to Albuquerque, but (I’ve) got to listen to my body and make sure that I’m 100 percent good for the rest of the year.”
Bregman estimated he will require between 15-30 at-bats in the minor leagues before he rejoins the Astros. While his strained left quad has felt great running the bases, he needs to run in games to adequately test his strength.
“Hopefully (I) hit a few doubles and run and not hit ground balls to short and have to run,” he said.
Díaz, Raley start minors assignments
Aledmys Díaz and Brooks Raley began minor league rehab assignments Tuesday.
Díaz, batting leadoff as the DH for Class AA Corpus Christi on Tuesday night at Midland, went 0-for-2 with a pair of walks. The utilityman has been on the injured list with a fractured left hand since June 8. He hit on the field for the first time since the injury a few days before the All-Star break, then played in two Gulf Coast League games while rehabbing at the Astros’ spring training facility in West Palm Beach, Fla.
Raley threw a scoreless inning for Class AAA Sugar Land, allowing one hit and striking out one. The reliever was placed on the injured list due to health and safety protocols July 8.
Reliever Josh James, who had been on a rehab assignment with Sugar Land in Albuquerque, was at Minute Maid Park on Tuesday to be examined by Astros team doctors for hamstring tightness, Baker said. The manager did not know whether it was the same hamstring that gave James trouble in June and caused his initial rehab stint to be delayed.
James was also struck in the upper back by a line drive during his last rehab outing Friday, but Baker had no information on whether that impacted James’ timeline. The pitcher still threw on the field at Minute Maid Park on Tuesday.
Skeeters rally in 9th, fall to Isotopes in 10
A tying three-run rally in the ninth went for naught as Sugar Land fell 7-6 in 10 innings to host Albuquerque on Tuesday night.
After trailing 6-3 entering the ninth, the Skeeters got RBI singles from Colton Shaver and Jake Meyers and a sacrifice fly
from Taylor Jones to tie it. Wynton Bernard started the bottom of the 10th on second base for the Isotopes and moved to third on a bunt single by Danny Edgeworth. Nick Longhi then singled off Michael Kelly to end it.
Highly regarded Astros prospect Pedro Leon drove in two runs in his Triple-A debut. Leon, promoted to Sugar Land from Class AA Corpus Christi on Monday, had an RBI infield single and plated another run with a groundout.