The Houston Astros’ recent luck with starting pitchers is so bad that even the guys called up from the minors to replace them are getting hurt.
Jake Bloss made his major league debut Friday night, being promoted from Double-A Corpus Christi to fill a vacant spot in Houston’s rotation. Against the Baltimore Orioles, Bloss pitched 3 2/3 innings before leaving the game with an apparent injury.
Following the Astros’ 14-11 win, the team said Bloss was dealing with “right shoulder discomfort“, while telling reporters that he felt a “pinch” in his right shoulder but that he did not believe it was serious.
However, Bloss was placed on the injured list on Saturday. While the Astros did not announce a specific injury, said manager Joe Espada. The pitcher will return to Houston to be examined by team doctors and undergo imaging.
Espada said he moved quickly to remove Bloss from Friday’s game when he noticed a drop in the rookie’s velocity. His last pitch, a fastball, was clocked at 90.5 mph.
“I’ve never seen him pitch, so I’m trying to read his gestures in the first innings,” Espada told reporters. via Brian McTaggart of MLB.com. “You’re trying to make sure that what he was doing there in the fourth was something he was doing in previous innings. In that one, he extended his arm and made a weird move, and the velocity was down, and it prompted me to go out and check it out. “.
Bloss threw 79 pitches, allowing two runs on six hits with two walks and six strikeouts.
The rookie right-hander joins a crowded list of injured Astros starting pitchers, including José Urquidy and Cristian Javier, who underwent Tommy John reconstructive surgery earlier this month. Justin Verlander also went on the injured list this week with neck discomfort. Lance McCullers Jr. and Luis García have not yet pitched this season, but hope to return to the team after the All-Star break.
It hasn’t been decided who will fill the fifth spot in the Astros’ rotation, but relievers Luis Contreras and Bryan King were. summoned on Saturday. That could mean Espada opts for a start in the bullpen, although Houston has two days off next week before Friday’s matchup against the New York Mets.