The Astros had a pair of regulars depart early against the Orioles on Saturday. Shortstop Jeremy Pena was removed from the game after striking out in the third inning. He was diagnosed with a right hamstring cramp. First baseman Christian Walker was removed during an at-bat in the fourth inning due to right hip tightness.
Pena has had a litany of injury issues this season. He fractured a finger in March, which knocked him out of the World Baseball Classic, but didn’t cost him any of the regular season. Pena then strained his hamstring in mid-April. He missed time with a calf strain in early July. The production has been there (123 wRC+), but he’d been limited to 52 games heading into the weekend.
Walker has been healthy all season. His recent performance has been the main concern. After putting together a strong couple of months to open the season, he’d scuffled to a .664 OPS since the start of June before Saturday’s game.
The Astros didn’t elaborate on the severity of either injury. Chandler Rome of The Athletic noted that infielder Ray Delgado was pulled from Triple-A Sugar Land’s lineup this evening. Delgado has spent time at every infield spot except first base with the Astros this season. He’d seem like a logical fill-in if either Pena or Walker is forced to miss time.
Here are more injury items from around the AL West…
- Athletics first baseman Nick Kurtz has yet to resume baseball activities, per Martin Gallegos of MLB.com. Kurtz hit the IL shortly before the All-Star break with a thumb sprain. The slugger was hitless in his last 20 at-bats prior to his IL placement.
- Athletics utilityman Zack Gelof will have his stitches removed on Tuesday. He’s set to get back to baseball activities after that. Gelof cut his knee sliding into the left field wall against the Tigers. He’s been out for the past week. Gelof also missed time with a bruised hand earlier this year. The 26-year-old is in the middle of a bounce-back campaign, posting a 120 wRC+ in 67 games.
- Rangers right-hander Nathan Eovaldi has been cleared to start on Sunday, per Kennedi Landry of MLB.com. The veteran had been dealing with an illness, putting his availability this weekend into question. Eovaldi hasn’t been nearly as dominant as he was last season from a run prevention perspective, but he’s missing more bats. The righty has a career-best 9.70 K/9.
- The Rangers also got Jakob Junis back in the lineup this weekend. The reliever had close to a minimum stint on the IL with a hip impingement. Junis wasted no time getting involved, recording the first two outs of the eighth inning on Saturday for his 12th hold. Junis and Jacob Latz have been an unexpectedly imposing tandem at the back of Texas’ bullpen.
Photo courtesy of Erik Williams, Imagn Images
