The Astros announced that they have selected right-hander Peter Lambert, a move that was reported yesterday. To open an active roster spot, they have optioned right-hander Christian Roa to Triple-A Sugar Land. In a corresponding 40-man move, left-hander Josh Hader has been transferred to the 60-day injured list.
Hader began the season on the 15-day injured list due to biceps tendinitis, an issue that prevented him from pitching in spring training. His 60-day count is retroactive to that initial IL placement, so he can be reinstated from the IL in late May.
Up until this transfer, his timing wasn’t exactly clear. Earlier this week, he faced live hitters in batting practice for the first time. He told Brian McTaggart of MLB.com that this essentially places him at the beginning of a normal spring training ramp-up. At some point, he will start a minor league rehab assignment, which will effectively replace the spring training games he missed.
Given that timeline, it was possible to imagine him potentially being ready by the middle of May. Pitchers normally ramp up for about six weeks in spring but relievers tend to be ready quicker because they don’t need to be stretched out. This move means the Astros will play things safer than that. Rehab assignments for pitchers can last 30 days, so Hader could start one in a week or so if he’s feeling good, and that could line up with his eligibility for activation.
Hader’s injury is just one of many for the Astros. They currently have 13 players on the IL, including 10 pitchers. Some of those are due to issues going back to last year but Hunter Brown, Cristian Javier, Tatsuya Imai and Cody Bolton have hit the IL in the past few weeks. That has put more pressure on the arms who are still on the roster. Ideally, Bryan Abreu would have stepped up and replaced Hader in the closer’s role, since he has been so good in recent seasons. Unfortunately, he has allowed nine earned runs through 6 1/3 innings this year.
Thanks in part to those challenges on the pitching staff, the Astros are out to a rough 8-12 start. They will need to keep things afloat in the near term while their injured pitchers get healthy and back in the mix, though they can’t count on Hader proving anything until more than a month into the future.
Photo courtesy of Troy Taormina, Imagn Images
