Dubin begins rehab stint; Whitley joins Sugar Land
ARLINGTON — Justin Verlander wasn’t the only pitcher making a return to the mound in Class AAA Sugar Land’s game Sunday. Two pitchers who could provide upper-minor league bullpen depth for the Astros also moved toward a return from spring injuries.
Shawn Dubin, who opened the season on the 15-day majorleague injured list due to a forearm strain, began a rehab assignment, throwing a scoreless inning with two strikeouts in the Space Cowboys’ 10-6 home loss to the Las Vegas Aviators.
Forrest Whitley was activated from the 7-day minor-league injured list and added to Sugar Land’s active roster. Whitley gave up a home run in his one inning of work but reached a high of 99 mph with his fastball.
Both Dubin and Whitley are on the Astros’ 40-man roster, making them candidates to help Houston at some point this season if healthy.
Whitley, the former top pitching prospect, was expected to compete for a bullpen spot in spring training but was set back by right middle finger soreness and did not pitch in Grapefruit League games.
Dubin made three appearances with the Astros last season, including one start. He did not appear this spring in Grapefruit League play. Dubin has a minor league option, so the Astros could option him to Class AAA to remain at Sugar Land after his rehab assignment ends.
Bullpen catcher Nunes joins staff
The Astros are making an addition to their major league field staff, adding Caleb Nunes as a new bullpen catcher starting Monday. Nunes has been the bullpen catcher for Sugar Land since 2021.
Houston employs longtime bullpen catcher Javier Bracamonte and catching coach Michael Collins, who sat in the bullpen in previous seasons and helped warm up pitchers.
First-year manager Joe Espada has moved Collins to the dugout this season, though, to help catchers Yainer Diaz and Victor Caratini in-game.
“Just getting Diaz and Caratini someone when they come in to help them with game-planning, adjusting and so forth,” Espada said.
Diaz is in his second season with the Astros and first as their primary catcher.
Caratini is in his first season with the club after signing a two-year deal with Houston in the offseason.
Handling of the pitching staff was expected to be Diaz’s biggest challenge in replacing Martín Maldonado as the primary catcher.
The Astros have so far adhered to their plan to give Diaz most of the playing time behind the plate; he drew his eighth start in 10 games at catcher on Sunday against Texas.
Espada offered a positive evaluation of Diaz’s work in game-planning and game-calling in the early going: “I think he’s been good,” Espada said. “I think the feedback I’m getting from Diaz has been good. Michael helps him kind of keep an eye on things that can go unnoticed. But I think it’s been very helpful.”
Defensively, pitch framing was an emphasis for Diaz entering this spring. Early returns are encouraging, albeit in a small sample.
Last season, Diaz converted 42% of pitches he caught in the “shadow zone,” or areas around the strike zone, into strikes, according to Baseball Savant. Entering Sunday, he’d converted 50.4% of those pitches into strikes.
Diaz made strides with his blocking last season and entered Sunday having allowed one fewer wild pitch than expected given his blocking opportunities, per Baseball Savant.
Two of the three wild pitches with Diaz at catcher occurred Saturday on breaking balls in the dirt that Diaz tried to backhand.
Espada noted both were “really tough pitches to keep in front” but that Diaz might have had a better chance by using his body.
Collins is in his sixth season with the Astros and fourth as a major league coach.
He served as a bullpen catcher the two previous seasons. In adding Nunes as a second bullpen catcher along with Bracamonte, Espada said the Astros are “just trying to get someone to help out.”