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Brown: Astros Eyeing Early September Return For Tucker

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The Astros have surged ahead of the free-falling Mariners to take control of the AL West after a rough start to the season, and they’ve largely done that without one of their best hitters. Outfielder Kyle Tucker was nothing short of incredible early in the season with a .266/.395/.584 slash line in 60 games that helped to keep Houston afloat in the midst of their early-season struggles, but hasn’t appeared in a game since June 3 after suffering a shin contusion that’s kept him out of action ever since.

Now, it appears the 27-year-old may finally be nearing a return to action after an initial target of a return early in the second half quickly turned into doubt over whether or not he’d contribute in the majors before September. In his latest update regarding the situation, GM Dana Brown suggested that he thinks Tucker will be able to return to the big league lineup during the first week of September. While a specific timeline for Tucker’s return is surely encouraging for Astros fans, The Athletic’s Chandler Rome cautions that Tucker has not yet begun running the bases or sprinting at full speed yet, and that he won’t be able to begin a rehab assignment until those boxes have been checked.

With that being said, Brown seemed to suggest yesterday (as relayed by MLB.com’s Injury Tracker) that the club could start pushing Tucker more aggressively in the near future, noting that the outfielder is currently “push[ing] a little harder” to “see where it goes.” Whenever he’s ready to return, Tucker is sure to provide a spark to an Astros lineup that will be looking to create more space between themselves and the Mariners, who currently sit 4.5 games back of them in the AL West race.

Astros Designate Jacob Amaya For Assignment

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The Astros announced a set of roster moves this afternoon, including the news that infielder Jacob Amaya has been designated for assignment.  This opens up a 40-man roster spot for Hector Neris, who signed with Houston two days ago.  Right-handers Seth Martinez and Shawn Dubin were optioned to Triple-A to create 26-man roster space for Neris and righty Kaleb Ort, who was reinstated from the paternity list.

Amaya came to the Astros in a trade from the Marlins back in April, and the 25-year-old’s time on Houston’s active roster has thus far consisted of just a single game — an appearance as a defensive substitute in the Astros’ 10-3 loss to the Yankees on May 7.  At the Triple-A level this season, Amaya has a .221/.308/.330 slash line over 302 total plate appearances with the Astros’ and Marlins’ top affiliates.

This represents a step backwards from the more respectable numbers Amaya has posted in past stints in Triple-A (with the Marlins last season and with the Dodgers in 2022).  Amaya has always been considered more of a glove-first player dating back to his time in the Los Angeles farm system, and while his defense alone might be good enough to get him some consideration for a big league roster, he’ll need to deliver more at the plate to earn anything more than sporadic call-ups or playing time.

Finding a niche in Houston is particularly tricky for Amaya considering how Jose Altuve and Jeremy Pena have the middle infield positions on lockdown, and superutilityman Mauricio Dubon bounces around at several positions.  This is the first time Amaya has been designated for assignment, and so if he clears waivers and is outrighted to Triple-A, he doesn’t have a prior outright or the MLB service time necessary to reject that assignment in favor of free agency.

Astros Shut Down Penn Murfee’s Rehab Assignment

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Right-hander Penn Murfee began a rehab assignment last week but made just one appearance and will now be shut down. Per Matt Kawahara of the Houston Chronicle, the righty has been returned from that rehab assignment due to what the team calls “a reoccurrence of right elbow discomfort.”

Murfee, now 30, got out to a strong start in his major league career. He made 80 appearances for the Mariners over the 2022 and 2023 seasons with a 2.70 earned run average. He posted a strong 27.9% strikeout rate in that time, with his 8.5% walk rate close to league average.

The latter of those two seasons was cut short midway through, as he underwent Tommy John surgery in July of last year. In the offseason, the M’s put him on waivers and he was claimed by the Mets and then Atlanta. The latter club non-tendered him, re-signed him to a split deal and then put him back on waivers, at which point the Astros claimed him.

Houston was undoubtedly hoping Murfee could provide a second-half jolt to their bullpen once he recovered from his surgery, but that’s looking less likely now. “It’s not ideal,” manager Joe Espada said. “It sucks because I know he’s worked really hard. He wants to get on the field, he wants to pitch for us this season. I still expect him to do it. It’s just, we’re going to have to slow him down a little bit here and see how he feels. It’s day to day right now.”

It seems Espada still left the window open for Murfee to come back this year, but it’ll be tight just based on the calendar. Whenever he’s cleared to restart his rehab, he’ll presumably need a few outings to get into game shape after so much down time. The Astros have taken the lead in the West division and could perhaps increase the chances of Murfee playing a role if they manage to play deep into October yet again.

Even if that doesn’t come to pass, Murfee could play a role on the club in the future. He came into this season with one year and 169 days of service time. Players on the major league injured list collect service time, so he’ll finish this year at 2.169 as long as he’s not activated and then optioned in the next few weeks. He will qualify for arbitration as a Super Two player this winter but won’t be able to command a huge raise after so much missed time. The Astros can control him for four additional seasons beyond this one.

In another bit of Astros news, Chandler Rome of The Athletic relays on X that the club is going to give Alex Bregman some reps at first base. He recently missed a few games due to right elbow inflammation but has been in the last two contests as the designated hitter. Shay Whitcomb has been covering the hot corner of late while Bregman’s elbow is preventing him from making strong throws across the diamond, but perhaps he could handle first, where the throwing demands are lower.

While the club is surely glad to have Bregman’s bat back in the lineup, it currently makes for a slightly awkward fit as it forces Yordan Alvarez to play the field every day. The club has also given some DH time to Yainer Diaz this year, keeping his bat in the lineup whenever Victor Caratini is catching. If Bregman could slot in at first from time to time, it could give Espada a bit more flexibility in setting the lineup, getting Alvarez and Diaz a lighter workload as they approach the postseason.

First base has been a bit hole for the club this year, with José Abreu having been released after his immense struggles. Jon Singleton has largely taken over, with Zach Dezenzo also factoring in lately and Diaz moving there on occasion as well. Singleton is hitting .234/.314/.369 this year for a wRC+ of 97, almost league average but a bit below the expectations for a first baseman. Dezenzo has hit .188/.235/.313 in a small sample of 34 plate appearances. Bregman has hit .261/.319/.448 this year for a 117 wRC+ but has been even better lately. After cold start to the season, he has hit .296/.351/.512 since the start of June for a 145 wRC+.

Astros To Sign Héctor Neris

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The Astros are signing right-hander Héctor Neris, reports Ari Alexander of KPRC 2 on X. The righty was released by the Cubs earlier this week. Assuming it’s a major league deal, the Astros will need to make corresponding moves to get the righty onto their active and 40-man rosters once the deal is made official.

Neris, 35, returns to an organization that he has had success with. After many successful years with the Phillies, Neris joined the Astros going into 2022. He signed a two-year, $17MM deal with a club option for 2024, though he could vest that into a player option based on the number of appearances he made for the club during the life of the contract.

Over those two years in Houston, Neris got into 141 regular season contests, allowing 2.69 earned runs per nine. He struck out 29.1% of batters faced and gave out walks at a 9% clip. He earned five saves and 56 holds in that time. He also made 15 postseason appearances over those two years, including eight in 2022 with a 1.50 ERA, helping Houston win its second World Series title.

By July of 2023, he had made his 110th regular-season appearance with the club, thus converting the club option into a player option. He eventually decided to turn that down, taking the $1MM buyout and returning to free agency, rather than agreeing to the $8.5MM salary.

He eventually signed with the Cubs for the 2024 season, a one-year, $9MM guarantee. Again, there was a club/player option provision, this time with a $9MM salary on the table for 2025. It would begin as a club option that could become a player option with 60 appearances or 45 games finished in 2024.

His time as a Cub was mixed. He made 46 appearances for them this year with a 3.89 ERA that doesn’t look too bad at first blush. However, his 23.5% strikeout rate and 13.3% walk rate were both significant drop-offs from his previous work. He managed to dance around those free passes a bit with a 76.9% strand rate that’s on the lucky side, perhaps why his 4.09 FIP and 4.36 SIERA were a bit worse than his ERA.

The Cubs decided to set him loose, releasing him earlier this week. That was likely a reflection of his diminished performance but also the Cubs not wanting him to unlock that player option. Since Neris was released and no club grabbed him off waivers, that option is now dead and won’t carry over to any new deal he signs.

Though he hasn’t been as crisp this year, it’s a sensible pickup for the Astros. For one thing, there’s no real financial cost. Because they released him, the Cubs are on the hook for the majority of his 2024 salary that is still to be paid out. The Astros only have to pay him the prorated version of the $740K league minimum salary for any time Neris spends on the roster, with that amount subtracted from what the Cubs pay.

The Astros have also taken a few hits in their bullpen. Kendall Graveman, Penn Murfee, Oliver Ortega and Bennett Sousa are all currently on the 60-day injured list, with each of them undergoing a significant surgery earlier this year. Righty Ryan Pressly also landed on the 15-day IL a few days ago due to a low back strain. There’s nothing to suggest Pressly is slated for a lengthy absence, but it’s another gap in the relief corps until he comes back.

Perhaps a return to a familiar environment can get Neris back on track after some wobbles this year. Even if that doesn’t quite come to pass, it’s a low-cost signing that lengthens the club’s depth for the stretch run and postseason.

Alex Bregman Discusses Elbow Soreness

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Alex Bregman returned to the Astros’ lineup this afternoon, hitting atop the order while playing designated hitter. Bregman’s leadoff homer accounted for the only run in a 4-1 loss to the Red Sox. That was his first at-bat in a week, as the two-time All-Star hadn’t played since last Wednesday because of inflammation in his right elbow.

Bregman’s return to the order doesn’t mean he’s at full strength. Breaking him back in at DH suggested the Astros were still concerned about him throwing the ball across the diamond. Bregman acknowledged that could be a problem for the foreseeable future. The third baseman told reporters after the game that his defensive work will be “a fluid situation” for the remainder of the season (link via Chandler Rome of the Athletic). Bregman made clear that he wasn’t dealing with any structural damage in his UCL but noted he’d need to “try to mitigate” swelling on a daily basis.

That is far from a declaration that he won’t return to third base, yet it seems likely he’ll get a fair amount of run at designated hitter down the stretch. That could push Yordan Alvarez more frequently into left field. Houston has also given catchers Yainer Diaz and Victor Caratini sporadic DH work as a means of keeping them fresh while getting both players into the lineup. Caratini, as the #2 option behind the plate, could lose a few reps. Diaz has started two of the past three games at first base, where the Astros had been using a Jon Singleton/Zach Dezenzo platoon. That’s another potential avenue for manager Joe Espada to keep both catchers in the lineup.

The bigger question is how the Astros would cover third base if Bregman’s playing time there is curtailed. Rookie Shay Whitcomb is evidently the first choice. Houston called him up on Thursday and has given him the past five starts at the hot corner. Whitcomb has had a great year in Triple-A, hitting .293/.378/.530 with 25 homers and 26 stolen bases. He’d struggled with strikeouts throughout his minor league career before taking a significant step forward in that regard this season.

At this point, there’s no indication that Bregman is dealing with anything especially worrisome. It’s nevertheless a situation worth monitoring as the Astros work to lock down another division title and into the upcoming offseason. Bregman will be a free agent for the first time and has a case as the second-best position player in the class behind Juan Soto.

As MLBTR explored in greater detail last week, Bregman has rebounded from a dismal start to the season. He has hit the ball harder as the year has progressed and has been on a power barrage this month. While his overall .261/.318/.450 season line is still below his standard level, that’s attributable to the poor start. Bregman is playing as well as ever over the past couple months.

Astros Activate Justin Verlander

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Justin Verlander is back. The Astros announced Wednesday that the 41-year-old right-hander has been reinstated from the injured list. Fellow righty Seth Martinez was optioned to Triple-A Sugar Land in his place. Verlander will start today’s home game against the visiting Red Sox — his first appearance since June 9.

Verlander opened the season on the 15-day IL after some shoulder discomfort popped up during spring training and slowed his progression through the annual exhibition season. He was activated on April 19 and made 10 starts out of the Houston rotation before heading back to the 15-day injured list, this time with a neck issue that has kept him out a fair bit longer than originally anticipated.

At the time of his placement on the IL, Verlander noted that he’d been dealing with the issue for weeks but added: “If this was playoff time, I’d like to think I’d be out there.” Despite that confidence, Verlander wound up missing more than two months with the injury.

When healthy, Verlander has been a solid but not dominant piece of the Houston rotation. He’s pitched 57 innings with a 3.95 earned run average, displaying a lower-than-usual 21.3% strikeout rate and an uncharacteristic susceptibility to home runs (1.74 HR/9). Verlander has seen a slight but hardly major bump in his homer-to-flyball ratio, but the larger problem is that he’s simply allowing more flyballs than ever before. This year’s 57% flyball mark trounces both the career 42% mark he carried into the season and last year’s 44.8% mark.

Even if Verlander doesn’t recapture his Cy Young form this season, the current version of the right-hander is still plenty helpful for an Astros rotation that has been stretched thin by a massive wave of injuries. Verlander’s strikeout rate is only about a percentage point shy of average, and his command remains quite strong (7.1% walk rate). He was averaging just over 5 2/3 innings per start prior to his second IL placement of the season.

Verlander will step back onto a starting staff that also includes Framber Valdez, Hunter Brown, Ronel Blanco, deadline acquisition Yusei Kikuchi and rookie Spencer Arrighetti. The plan for Houston moving forward seems to be to adopt a six-man rotation. That will help to mitigate concerns regarding Verlander’s neck as well as workload concerns for Blanco, who’s already set a new career-high for innings pitched, and Arrighetti, who’ll likely establish a new career-high during his next start.

Rotation depth beyond the six presently healthy starters in Houston is scarce. Cristian Javier and Jose Urquidy underwent Tommy John surgery earlier this season. J.P. France underwent shoulder surgery. The ’Stros recently announced that righty Luis Garcia will not pitch this season. He’d been expected to return in the second half after undergoing his own Tommy John procedure early in the 2023 campaign, but did not recover as quickly as hoped. Lance McCullers Jr., who underwent flexor surgery last summer, was also expected to be a second-half reinforcement but is now similarly viewed as unlikely to return in 2024.

The extended length of Verlander’s stint on the injured list has effectively eliminated the possibility that he’ll be able to trigger the vesting player option in his contract. Had Verlander stayed healthy enough to reach 140 innings this year, he’d have triggered the right to pick up a $35MM player option for the 2025 season. The Astros would only have been on the hook for half of that sum, with the Mets covering the other $17.5MM as part of the trade that sent Verlander from Queens to Houston last summer.

Now, Verlander will simply become a free agent at season’s end. So long as he plans to continue pitching — he’s previously said he hopes to pitch into his mid-40s — there’ll likely be mutual interest in a reunion, but it won’t be as straightforward as Verlander picking up that pricey player option that’ll no longer come into play.

Astros Claim Ben Gamel

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The Astros have claimed outfielder Ben Gamel off waivers from the Mets, per Chandler Rome of The Athletic on X. Gamel had recently been designated for assignment by the Mets. To open a 40-man roster spot for Gamel, the Astros have recalled right-hander J.P. France and placed him on the major league 60-day injured list. They will need to open an active roster spot for Gamel once he reports to the team.

Gamel, 32, signed a minor league deal with the Mets in the offseason. He had a strong run for Triple-A Syracuse, getting into 45 games and slashing .314/.423/.538 for a wRC+ of 150. At least some of that production was related to a .400 batting average on balls in play that he wasn’t going to maintain, but he did hit seven home runs and was drawing walks at a strong clip of 16.3%.

The Mets called him up near the end of June with fellow outfielder Starling Marte going on the injured list. Gamel didn’t get much playing time but carried himself well whenever the Mets put him in there. In almost two months on the roster, he got into just 18 games and received just 30 plate appearances. But he walked in seven of those, a huge 23.3% rate, and slashed .217/.400/.261 for a wRC+ of 110. When Marte returned from the IL on the weekend, Gamel was nudged off the roster and onto the waiver wire.

Gamel now has nine major league seasons on his track record, a lengthy run of serviceable major league performance. Since his 2016 debut, he has played for the Yankees, Mariners, Brewers, Guardians, Pirates, Padres and now the Mets. In 703 big league games, he has a line of .252/.333/.382 and a 96 wRC+ while playing all three outfield positions and a bit of first base.

The Houston lineup has taken a few hits in the recent weeks and months. Kyle Tucker hasn’t played since the first week of June due to a shin contusion. Alex Bregman hasn’t played in almost a week due to an elbow injury. José Abreu was released earlier this year after a dismal performance. They also traded away some depth in the Yusei Kikuchi trade by sending Joey Loperfido and Will Wagner to the Blue Jays.

That has led to playing time going to guys with fairly uninspiring results. Jake Meyers has strong defensive grades in center but is hitting .228/.293/.387 for a wRC+ of 93. Mauricio Dubón has been bouncing around the diamond but is slashing .252/.284/.362 for a wRC+ of 82. Jon Singleton has taken over Abreu’s job at first base and has been passable but his .234/.316/.362 line leads to a subpar 96 wRC+. In the group of Trey Cabbage, Chas McCormick, Zach Dezenzo, Aledmys Díaz and Pedro León, no one has a wRC+ higher than 65. León was recently optioned and Díaz released. Shay Whitcomb has done well covering third for Bregman but in a small sample of just three games.

Dubón and McCormick have been getting regular playing time in the corners lately but Gamel could perhaps factor in there, as well as in the first base mix with Singleton and Dezenzo. Both Cabbage and Dezenzo have options and were just recalled in the past week, so perhaps one of those two will be optioned whenever Gamel can link up with the club.

As for France, he underwent season-ending shoulder surgery in June, so it’s unsurprising to see him now landing on the 60-day IL. He had been optioned at the end of April and was on the minor league IL. By getting recalled now, he’ll get major league service time and pay for the remainder of the season. He had already crossed the one-year service mark earlier in the season, but will add a few weeks to his tally here at the end of 2024.

Astros’ Luis Garcia Will Not Return This Season

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Astros starter Luis Garcia will not pitch in the majors this season, manager Joe Espada told the team’s beat (X link via The Athletic’s Chandler Rome). Garcia has hit a few snags in his build-up from last May’s Tommy John procedure. The righty will resume throwing this weekend but is no longer pursuing a 2024 comeback; he’ll turn his attention fully to getting ready for next spring.

Garcia set out on a rehab assignment in late June, which is right in line with the standard 13-14 month recovery from Tommy John surgery. The stint did not go as planned. Houston pulled him off the assignment around the All-Star Break after he had a tough time bouncing back between outings. The Astros planned to send Garcia back out shortly after the deadline, but he reported more soreness coming out of a bullpen session and was shut back down.

Neither setback seems indicative of a long-term concern. They’ve been enough to keep Garcia from logging the necessary workload to get himself into MLB game shape before year’s end though. Early in the year, GM Dana Brown had pointed to Garcia and Lance McCullers Jr. as potential late-season returnees to strengthen the rotation depth. Neither player will make a big league appearance in 2024. McCullers also battled lingering arm soreness and is expected to miss the entire season.

Those injuries — paired with this year’s season-ending arm procedures for Cristian Javier and José Urquidy — made it necessary for Brown and his staff to add a starter at the deadline. They did so by sending a three-player package headlined by Jake Bloss to the Blue Jays for Yusei Kikuchi. It was a hefty price, but Kikuchi has had a fantastic start to his Houston tenure. The hard-throwing southpaw has allowed only five runs in 16 2/3 innings across three appearances. He has fanned 24 of 66 opponents while generating swinging strikes at a massive 15.3% clip.

Kikuchi isn’t the only midseason reinforcement. The Astros have been without Justin Verlander since the middle of June because of neck discomfort. Espada told the beat that Verlander will take the ball on Wednesday against the Red Sox (relayed on X by Matt Kawahara of the Houston Chronicle). The future Hall of Famer tossed four innings and logged 57 pitches in a rehab start at Double-A Corpus Christi last Thursday.

The Astros evidently don’t feel he’d benefit from one more minor league start and will give him his next appearance at Minute Maid Park. Houston has pushed their lead on the Mariners in the AL West to four games. If they lock down a playoff berth, Verlander would join Kikuchi, Framber Valdez, Hunter Brown and potentially Ronel Blanco in the mix for postseason starts.

Verlander will come up well short of 140 innings this season, meaning he will not unlock a $35MM player option. He’ll be a free agent this offseason, as will Kikuchi. Garcia remains under arbitration control through 2026. Since he didn’t pitch this season, he’ll likely match this year’s $1.875MM salary. Valdez and Urquidy are eligible for arbitration as well (though the latter is a non-tender candidate). Brown and Blanco are still in their pre-arbitration seasons, while Javier will make $10MM next year and is under contract through 2027.

Astros Notes: Verlander, Garcia

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Justin Verlander “felt strong” during a bullpen session today in Houston, Astros manager Joe Espada told reporters (including Matt Kawahara of the Houston Chronicle), which should line Verlander up to return to the rotation on Wednesday when the Astros face the Red Sox.  A neck strain has kept Verlander from pitching in the majors since June 9, and he has amassed only 57 innings this season due both this current ailment and a bout of shoulder inflammation coming out of Spring Training.  However, Verlander has completed two minor league rehab outings and today’s bullpen session looks like the final checkpoint on his path to recovery.

While things are looking promising for Verlander, Luis Garcia is more of a question mark.  The Athletic’s Chandler Rome wrote (via X) that as of Friday, Garcia hadn’t yet resumed throwing since he was shut down due to soreness over two weeks ago.  This is the second time Garcia has hit a setback in his recovery from Tommy John surgery, and since Garcia went under the knife in May 2023, a normal rehab timeline would’ve had him ready to return to the majors by this point over 15 months past his procedure date.  Though the Astros have said Garcia might return as a reliever rather than as a starter, he is running short on time to fully ramp up his readiness to rejoin Houston’s pitching staff in any capacity.

Astros Place Ryan Pressly On 15-Day Injured List

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The Astros placed veteran reliever Ryan Pressly on the 15-day injured list today with a low back strain. In a corresponding move, the team recalled right-hander Seth Martinez from Triple-A Sugar Land. Martinez will be available out of the bullpen for tonight’s game against the White Sox.

Pressly, 35, has been with the Astros since 2018, pitching to a 2.84 ERA with 109 saves in that time. He also has a 2.22 ERA with 14 additional saves in the postseason. Although he lost his job as Houston’s closer when the team signed Josh Hader this past offseason, he remains one of the club’s more reliable high-leverage bullpen arms. Through 49 games in 2024, Pressly has a 3.86 ERA, 3.45 SIERA, and 21 holds. He has worked almost exclusively in the eighth inning.

Astros relievers rank fifth in MLB and second in the AL with a 3.61 ERA on the season. Still, losing Pressly for any amount of time will be a tough blow to weather as the team looks to stay on top of the Mariners in the AL West. The Astros just entered a stretch of 18 games in 18 days, and after their series against the White Sox wraps up this weekend, they will face the Red Sox, Orioles, Phillies, and Royals.

Thankfully for the Astros, manager Joe Espada does not seem especially concerned about the severity of Pressly’s injury. To that point, the skipper explained that Pressly initially tried to pitch through the pain. Yet, considering the righty’s recent struggles (9.00 ERA in his last four appearances), it makes sense that the team decided to give him some time to rest up and heal. Espada described the IL stint as “a little breather,” which certainly suggests Pressly won’t be gone too long (Espada interview clip via Brian McTaggart of MLB.com).

Martinez, 29, has a 2.92 ERA (but a 4.59 SIERA) in 41 appearances as a low-leverage reliever for the Astros this season. The right-hander made the Opening Day roster out of spring training, and he stuck with the big league club until the trade deadline. He was then optioned to Triple-A as the Astros made room for new acquisitions Yusei Kikuchi and Caleb Ferguson on the active roster. Aside from his low ERA, none of his 2024 numbers jump off the page. Still, he will provide Houston with another capable arm while Pressly is on the mend.

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