Injured Houston Astros Pitcher Has 'Setback' in His Recovery

It sounds like one of the Houston Astros injured starters is going to miss some more time after suffering a setback.

Apr 23, 2024; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Houston Astros starting pitcher J.P. France (68) delivers a pitch against the Chicago Cubs during the first inning at Wrigley Field / Kamil Krzaczynski-USA TODAY Sports

The Houston Astros have been dealt a tough hand when it comes to their starting pitching unit.

Coming into the year, they already knew they would be shorthanded with Lance McCullers Jr. and Luis Garcia still recovering from their past surgeries. Then, J.P. France and Justin Verlander were placed on the injured list in Spring Training, followed by them picking up two more season-ending injuries to Cristian Javier and Jose Urquidy.

With Verlander back on the IL after a limited time being active, they called up one of their star pitching prospects Jake Bloss, who also was put on the shelf after his debut.

This has been a major reason why the Astros are fighting an uphill battle to get into the playoffs, but after sweeping the Baltimore Orioles, they are now two games under .500 and are just four back of the final Wild Card spot.

General manager Dana Brown has repeatedly stated they are not going to be sellers, and their recent winning streak of five in a row and seven out of their last 10 certainly helps that cause.

If they're going to be buyers before July 30 is unknown, but if they want to make the playoffs they likely will have to since one of their current injured starting pitchers seems like he won't be returning as soon as initially thought.

According to Chandler Rome of The Athletic, France has suffered a "slight setback" in his recovery from a shoulder injury that landed him on the minor league IL after he was demoted earlier in the season. They are going to shut down his throwing progression until the soreness goes away.

France was a big part of this rotation in 2023, posting a 3.83 ERA across 24 appearances and 23 starts, but after going 0-3 with a 7.46 ERA in five starts this year, Houston sent him down to the minors.

Because of all the injury issues the Astros have had this season, there's a good chance he would have made his return to the bigs if he was able to perform well at Triple-A.

How long he'll continue to be sidelined is unclear.