Houston Astros Place Recently Promoted Star Prospect on Injured List
Things have not come easy for the Houston Astros this season.
Friday night was the latest example of that, as even though they earned a much-needed victory over the Baltimore Orioles, they once held a 14-3 lead before they saw that get diminished to 14-11 in one inning that forced them to burn some key bullpen arms.
What should have been a stress-free win turned into a situation that could hurt them for the rest of this series.
That's really been the story for the Astros this year.
Even when things seem to be going right, there is always something that pops up and presents challenges they have to overcome.
There has been no greater challenge than all the injuries to their pitching staff, causing them to rotate a cast of characters between their Major League and Triple-A rosters.
According to Chandler Rome of The Athletic, that is the case once again.
He reports Houston has placed star prospect Jake Bloss on the injured list following his debut on Friday where he gave up two earned runs through 3.2 innings pitched.
Bloss threw a lot of pitches, reaching 79 before he was pulled, and was seen walking off the field talking to a trainer. There was some concern he had injured himself as it was strange to see a member of the training staff accompanying him when leaving the mound.
Those fears have now been realized.
The 22-year-old described feeling a "tweak" in his shoulder, but downplayed it after the game when saying, "It doesn’t feel like anything that serious at all. Just feels like a little tweak. But we'll know more tomorrow."
Manager Joe Espada confirms he will undergo more tests in the coming days, prompting them to put Bloss on the IL.
This is brutal news for the Astros and the prospect who skipped Triple-A to make his debut in the bigs.
Brian McTaggart of MLB.com reports Houston is calling up left-handed reliever Bryan King from Triple-A and is recalling Luis Contreras who was just demoted on Friday. The only way they could promote Contreras so quickly is if someone was placed on the injured list.
In a corresponding move, they have sent down Nick Hernandez who gave up five earned runs in 1.1 innings during Friday's game.
BRAD WAKAI
Brad Wakai graduated from Penn State University with a degree in Journalism. While an undergrad, he did work at the student radio station covering different Penn State athletic programs like football, basketball, volleyball, soccer and other sports. Brad currently covers the Philadelphia Phillies, Chicago Cubs and Houston Astros for Sports Illustrated/FanNation. He is also the Lead Contributor for Nittany Lions Wire of Gannett Media where he continues to cover Penn State athletics. Brad is the host of the sports podcast I Said What I Said, discussing topics across the NFL, College Football, the NBA and other sports. You can follow him on Twitter: @bwakai