The Houston Astros had Thursday off. Starting tonight with the first of three in Cincinnati, they will play 13 games in 13 days.
That stretch includes seven against the Texas Rangers and the Seattle Mariners, two of the American League’s more dangerous teams. For a club that entered the week with the highest ERA in baseball at 5.65, the timing could not be worse.
The rotation, such as it is, will be tested immediately. Mike Burrows starts tonight and Spencer Arrighetti starts Saturday against the Reds. Both have been among the few reliable arms in a staff decimated by injury. Hunter Brown and Cristian Javier remain on the 60-day injured list with shoulder strains. Lance McCullers Jr., the only other active member of the season-opening rotation, is in doubt for his next start after losing part of a fingernail on his right index finger during Wednesday’s loss to the Dodgers. Asked whether he can make his next turn, McCullers said, “I don’t know. We’ll see.”
Sunday’s series finale in Cincinnati has no announced starter. Peter Lambert, who threw a career-high 104 pitches in Tuesday’s win over the Dodgers, is an option on extra rest. Giving him another day and slotting him into Monday’s series opener against Seattle may be more prudent, however, which would push Tatsuya Imai to Tuesday. Imai is scheduled to return to the major-league rotation next week after two rocky rehab starts in which he walked nine batters in six innings. His ERA in three MLB starts this season is 7.27.
If McCullers cannot pitch Wednesday against Seattle, the options behind him are thin. Jason Alexander was optioned to Triple-A Sugar Land after Wednesday’s loss. Prospects and veteran depth options exist, but none inspires confidence.
The bullpen has already absorbed enormous damage. Houston’s relievers entered the week having worked the fourth-most innings in baseball, a product of a rotation that has rarely gone deep into games. That workload is unsustainable over 13 consecutive days, which makes starting pitching length not just desirable but necessary.
The mood heading into the stretch is not helped by the news that came down this week. Carlos Correa will undergo season-ending ankle surgery after injuring himself in the batting cage Tuesday. Catcher Yainer Diaz, placed on the injured list Monday with a left oblique strain, is expected to be out for an extended period. Two significant contributors gone before the gauntlet even begins.
Seven of the 13 games come against the Texas Rangers and the Seattle Mariners. The Mariners, in particular, have been expected to contend in the AL West and represent a significant test of where this 15-23 team actually stands. Sandwiched into that run is the Silver Boot Series, the annual in-state rivalry with the Rangers at Daikin Park from May 15–17—one of the most anticipated series on the Houston calendar, with the silver boot trophy on the line for bragging rights.
How the Astros emerge from these 13 days may go a long way toward answering the question of what kind of season this is going to be. The pitching staff is thin, the lineup is patched together, and the margin for error is essentially gone. But the schedule doesn’t care. It never does.
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