Before Monday’s game against the Seattle Mariners, the Houston Astros were already short two starting pitchers. Then things got worse.
The club placed right-hander Tatsuya Imai on the 15-day IL with right arm fatigue, meaning three-fifths of Houston’s Opening Day rotation is now on the injured list, joining starters Hunter Brown and Cristian Javier, both of whom landed on the 15-day IL last week with Grade 2 right shoulder strains. That leaves Houston scrambling to cover more than half of its starting staff.
As if that weren’t enough, the Astros also placed shortstop Jeremy Peña on the 10-day IL with a Grade 1 right hamstring strain, leaving them without their starting shortstop as well.
The injury list doesn’t stop there. Outfielder Jake Meyers was also placed on the 15-day IL with a Grade 2 right oblique strain. Meyers exited the April 8 game against the Rockies mid-plate appearance after a swing.
To fill the roster spots, the Astros recalled right-hander J.P. France, left-hander Colton Gordon, and infielder Shay Whitcomb from Triple-A Sugar Land, while optioning right-hander Jayden Murray to Sugar Land.
Imai’s IL placement comes after a difficult outing Friday in which he recorded just one out, walking four batters, hitting one, and allowing three runs. Through three career starts, Imai has posted a 54 percent strike percentage. The young right-hander flew back to Houston on Saturday after reporting arm fatigue during Friday’s loss.
Peña exited Saturday’s game after complaining of tightness behind his right knee and sat out Sunday. It is the second health setback for the shortstop in less than a month. He fractured the ring finger on his right hand during a World Baseball Classic exhibition game in March, forcing him to miss the tournament entirely. The Grade 1 designation, the mildest classification for a hamstring strain, offers some reason for optimism regarding his timeline.
France, Gordon, and Whitcomb will help stabilize a shorthanded roster in the short term, but the cavalry may already be on its way. Spencer Arrighetti, optioned to Triple-A Sugar Land before the season with the explicit plan of keeping him stretched out as a starter, was slated to join the rotation in mid-April when the Astros moved to a six-man setup. With three rotation spots now in need of coverage, his return figures to come sooner rather than later.
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