Pressly sharp in rehab outing
HOUSTON — The Astros are still determining next steps for injured closer Ryan Pressly after he completed the first game of a minorleague rehab assignment with Class AAA Sugar Land on Tuesday night.
Pressly threw six pitches to induce three groundouts in a scoreless inning for the Space Cowboys and on Wednesday morning played catch at Minute Maid Park. Astros manager Dusty Baker said Pressly may require another rehab game.
“He threw well, but he didn’t throw many, so we’ve still got to determine is that enough or does he need some more,” Baker said.
In four outings before landing on the injured list April 14 with right knee inflammation, Pressly averaged 92.7 mph on his fourseam fastball, down from 95.4 mph during the 2021 season. Baker said Pressly touched 93-95 mph in Tuesday’s rehab outing.
When asked if the Astros are using velocity to determine Pressly’s readiness for a return, Baker said, “Not me.”
“Velo’s important, but velo minus location is not velo to me,” Baker said. “Evidently, he had pretty good location, but he only threw a few pitches. So it’s kind of a catch-22. You want him to do well, but you also want him tested some at the same time.”
Altuve exits with ‘groin soreness’
Astros second baseman Jose Altuve left Wednesday’s game against the Mariners following the fourth inning after he fouled a ball off his groin.
Facing Seattle reliever Wyatt Mills to lead off the fourth, Altuve fouled a pitch back into his groin/upper left leg area.
After a check-up from Astros trainer Jeremiah Randall, Altuve resumed his at-bat and produced a single. He eventually came around the bases to score on a double and a sacrifice fly but exited the game thereafter.
The Astros said Altuve left the game with “right groin soreness.” Niko Goodrum replaced him at second base to begin the fifth inning.
Wednesday was Altuve’s third game back since he was activated fromthe 10-day injured list Monday after rehabbing a left hamstring strain. He was 2-for-8 with three walks, one home run and one RBI in the series against the Mariners.