Altuve headed for rehab stint
ARLINGTON — The Astros are delaying injured second baseman Jose Altuve’s return from a strained hamstring until at least Monday as he completes a short minor-league rehab assignment.
Altuve will not travel with the Astros to Toronto for their weekend road series, instead set to play two games for Class AAA Sugar Land in Oklahoma City on Friday and Saturday. The Astros hope to activate Altuve on Monday for the start of a home series against the Mariners, general manager James Click said.
“He’s looked great, he’s healed up much faster than we expected,” Click said. “He just wants to get a couple games to get his timing back before he is activated. Should just be a couple games out there and we’ll see him on Monday.”
Altuve strained his left hamstring in the Astros’ home opener against the Angels and was placed on the injured list April 19, eligible to be activated Friday.
He returned to on-field activities last week and did pregame infield work at Globe Life Field on Thursday before departing for Oklahoma City.
“I just want to get 100 percent healthy and come back whenever they tell me,” Altuve said. “I feel really good. I think it’s a good idea to go out there and test it, make sure it’s 100 percent and come back with the team anytime.”
Click said he anticipated Altuve will play 7-9 innings in each of his rehab games.
Pressly’s absence not ‘long term’
The Astros had no updated timetable on Thursday for closer Ryan Pressly, who has been on the injured list since April 14. GM James Click said Pressly threw again on Wednesday and characterized the injury as “not a significant issue, not a long-term thing,” but could not say when Pressly will be back.
Reliever Báez officially released
The Astros officially released reliever Pedro Báez on Thursday, as expected, after he cleared unconditional release waivers.
The Astros designated Báez for assignment on Tuesday, a move necessitated after the pitcher’s unproductive two seasons. Báez signed a twoyear, $12.5 million contract with the Astros before the 2021 season, but threw just 6 2⁄3 majorleague innings over the lifetime of the deal.
He totaled 2 1⁄3 innings in three appearances this season with an 11.57 ERA.
Space Cowboys notch road win
Korey Lee homered as the Space Cowboys won 8-4 at Oklahoma City on Thursday night.