The Astros will select the contract of right-hander Blair Henley, per Ari Alexander of KPRC 2, with Henley starting in place of left-hander Framber Valdez. At this point, it’s unclear if Valdez is injured or if this is simply a spot start situation to give everyone extra rest. Henley will need to be added to the 40-man roster but they could easily move Oliver Ortega, who is out for several months due to elbow surgery, to the 60-day injured list.
Henley, 27 next month, will be making his major league debut as soon as he gets into a game. The righty was selected by the Astros in the seventh round of the 2019 draft. He cracked the Baseball America list of the top 30 farmhands in the system in 2020 and 2021 but has slipped off in subsequent versions. In 2021, he posted a 7.02 earned run average in 16 2/3 innings at High-A before requiring Tommy John surgery, wiping out the rest of that season and his 2022 as well.
He returned to the mound last year and tossed 106 2/3 innings at the Double-A level with a 5.06 ERA. His 11.1% walk rate was on the high side but his 22.3% strikeout rate was solid and his 51.2% ground ball rate quite strong. He was sent to Triple-A to start this year and has already made one start there, allowing three earned runs in five innings with six strikeouts and four walks.
He will now get a chance to come up and pitch at the major league level. Henley isn’t one of the club’s top pitching prospects so it’s a bit unusual that he’s the one getting the call today, but perhaps more information will be forthcoming on that decision as the game draws closer.
lol and another bites the dust
dont worry folks, MLB swears there’s nothing wrong with the game or the rules. its the pitchers faults. they are brittle and broken. its not the sport, its not the pitch clock, its not manfred. everything’s under control. meanwhile pitchers are dropping like mosquitoes in a fly trap on a hot summer day
What’s your solution?
lots of things can be done. read the comments i made after strider went down a few days ago
will do
From the other thread i mentioned:
stop encouraging little leaguers to throw 100+. by the time they’re 20 they require TJ. stop resting pitchers then building them back up then sitting them down again. pitchers need rhythm. they need routine. athletes cant play at 100% then stop then start again. and eliminate this ridiculous pitch clock. games are 10 minutes shorter, but you got over 130 pitchers on the DL before opening day even begins. get better trainers and doctors. get better coaches. change the way pitchers are developed. change the kind of pitches they are encouraged to throw. my goodness before the 70s NOBODY was going down with TJ injuries. now its as common as a bowl of cereal. but #1 – get rid of manfred. he is a disease. he has ruined baseball. i love the sport and i hate what its turned into. in consecutive days the majors may have lost the 2 most talented young pitchers to TJ. this aint no coincidence. huge changes need to happen.
If you won’t push your arm to throw high 90’s but the guy next to you will? Then what?
I don’t know how that goes away. Think it’ll be a very long time before any real change is made.
If a guy gets outs then sign him
If all he does is throw hard then i might think twice
@Rocker49
Not sure what this article has to do with an Aroidis positive steroid test? lol only reason you should be tagging me 😉
You must’ve stuck one of those infamous Astro centerfield cameras in Adolis’s locker to make such a bold accusation.
Last time he pitched was last Tuesday so he would not be pitching on short rest. Curious to get more info.
Why not Bielak? I thought he did pretty well last year.
Bielak pitched 3 innings Friday, so he’s probably not available. I would think that Arrighetti would be next in line after Bielak, but he started Thursday. Sounds like it’s a right place right time thing for Henley.
Rather have a shopping cart start over Bielak
Bielak is no good. Should not have made the team but he was out of options. Framber must be hurt as do not see him in Royals series. So must be skipping him till maybe Rangers series at home this weekend
Can we take a second to talk about how great that uniform is in the picture?