Kyle Tucker

Astros Reinstate Kyle Tucker From Injured List

By Darragh McDonald | September 6, 2024 at 3:55pm CDT

The Astros have reinstated outfielder Kyle Tucker from the 60-day injured list. Infielder Zach Dezenzo has been optioned to Triple-A in order to open an active roster spot. Left-hander Parker Mushinski has been designated for assignment to create room on the 40-man. Chandler Rome of The Athletic was among those to relay the moves on X.

Tucker got out to a brilliant start this season, hitting 19 home runs in 60 games while walking more than he struck out. He slashed .266/.395/.584 for a wRC+ of 175 despite a subpar .245 batting average on balls in play. On June 3, that wRC+ was third in the majors behind Aaron Judge and Juan Soto despite some poor treatment from the baseball gods.

But it was on that June 3 date that Tucker began a strange saga. He fouled a ball of his shin and landed on the 10-day injured list. The club continued to described his injury as a “deep bruise of the bone” or a “shin contusion,” all while seeming to expect him to make a quick return. His absence turned to weeks and then months as fans continued to wonder how a simple bruise could lead to such an extended absence.

Just a few days ago, Rome reported that Tucker had suffered a fracture, despite continued denials from general manager Dana Brown. After that report came out, Brown and Tucker both admitted that the player had indeed suffered a fracture.

Though the reasons for that obfuscation aren’t clear, the larger point is that Tucker is now back. He didn’t go on a rehab assignment and is in the designated hitter slot tonight, so perhaps the club is easing him back after a long layoff. Maybe he will experience some rust but he will obviously be a huge boon to the Astros if he can get anywhere near his pre-injury form.

Despite the lineup boost, he will give the club a bit less lineup flexibility if he stays in that DH slot. Yordan Alvarez has been the DH more than anyone else but he will perhaps have to play left field more regularly. It will also be harder to put Alex Bregman in there, as he has been battling a minor elbow issue of late. The club also likes to have Yainer Diaz as the DH sometimes when Victor Caratini is behind the plate, keeping Diaz’s bat in the lineup. Perhaps that will happen less often as a result as well.

The outfield group currently consists of Alvarez, Jake Meyers and Ben Gamel, with Chas McCormick and Jason Heyward also in the mix. Whenever Tucker is ready to take the field again, he will push into that group and take some of their playing time, but also free up the DH spot once again.

Mushinski, 28, could perhaps join a new club for the first time in his career. He was drafted by the Astros in 2017 and was added to their 40-man roster in 2022. He has served as a frequently-optioned depth arm for them since then. He has tossed 33 major league innings over those three campaigns with a 5.45 earned run average. His 8.1% walk rate and 45.2% ground ball rate are close to average but he’s only struck out 17.4% of batters faced.

His minor league work has been more impressive. In that same three-year span, he has tossed 114 2/3 innings for Triple-A Sugar Land, putting up a 3.30 ERA despite that club playing in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League. He has a 26.7% strikeout rate and 10.7% walk rate in that sample.

The Astros will have to put Mushinski on waivers in the coming days. He can still be optioned for what remains of this year but will be out of options next season. If he does get claimed, he has less than two years of service time and can therefore be controlled for five seasons beyond this one. If he were to pass through waivers unclaimed, he wouldn’t have the right to elect free agency since he has never been previously outrighted and has less than three years of service time.

Latest On Kyle Tucker

By Darragh McDonald | September 2, 2024 at 9:00pm CDT

Astros outfielder Kyle Tucker hasn’t played in a big league game since fouling a ball off his leg on June 3. The club placed him on the 10-day injured list shortly thereafter, listing his injury as a right shin contusion, and it seemed like a short absence was possible. But weeks gradually turned into months without much progress being made towards a return and now Chandler Rome of The Athletic reports that Tucker suffered a fractured shin, even though it was never framed that way to reporters.

As noted by Rome, the club has described the injury using terms such as a “deep bruise of the bone” or a “shin contusion” but never used the word “fracture”. As recently as Saturday, general manager Dana Brown responded in the negative when asked if Tucker had a fracture, though he seemed to cop to it today.

“After several rounds of medical imaging, we suspect there was some type of small fracture,” Brown said this morning. “As with all injuries of this type, once the fracture heals it takes time for the muscles around the leg to regain strength. Tuck has worked extremely hard to get back on the field and thankfully is ready now to help us in September and in the postseason.”

The news at least provides some clarity on why Tucker’s absence has extended for as long as it has, but it does raise other questions. If it took the club three months to find the fracture, what took so long? If they knew all along, why keep it a secret? Members of the media have often expressed frustration about a lack of information coming from the club about its injured players. When Dusty Baker was still the manager, he would often cite HIPAA laws as a reason for not providing health updates (X links from Rome), despite the fact that other clubs regularly provide such information. Rome has also relayed (X link) that the club doesn’t make its trainer available to the media and says it is against the collective bargaining agreement, which is not true. He’s also relayed that the trainer has, in the past, discouraged players from speaking to the media about their injuries (X link). It seems this Tucker incident could perhaps be the latest and most extreme example of a strange organizational pattern.

Regardless, Tucker is now nearing a return. Pet Matt Kawahara of the Houston Chronicle on X, manager Joe Espada said that Tucker is now running the bases at about 85% intensity and could rejoin the club soon.

Tucker was having an incredible season before the injury, hitting .266/.395/.584 for a 175 wRC+ through 60 games, in spite of a subpar .245 batting average on balls in play. Since the landed on the IL, the Astros have given right field playing time to each of Chas McCormick, Ben Gamel, Jason Heyward, Mauricio Dubón, Trey Cabbage, Pedro León and Joey Loperfido before he was traded to the Blue Jays. Gamel is the only one in that group to have produced above-average offense this year and his output is propped up by a .410 BABIP in his 70 plate appearances, so getting Tucker back will obviously be a boost to the Astros.

West Notes: Tucker, Darvish, Doval

By Nick Deeds | August 24, 2024 at 8:41pm CDT

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.

More from around MLB’s West divisions…

Moving over to the NL, the Padres reinstated veteran right-hander Yu Darvish from the restricted list yesterday. Darvish is not yet back on the big league roster, however, as he was placed back on the 15-day injured list. The 38-year-old hurler had been shelved due to hamstring and elbow issues prior to his placement on the restricted list due to an undisclosed family matter in early July. Fortunately, manager Mike Shildt clarified to reporters (including Jeff Sanders of the San Diego Union Tribune) earlier today that Darvish is no longer dealing with any physical issues and that his placement on the injured list is instead a mechanism to allow him time to build up toward returning to the club’s rotation. Darvish last threw an official pitch during a minor league rehab assignment back in June and last pitched in the majors on May 29, so it’s hardly a surprise that he’ll need time to build his stamina back up before he can return to the rotation. The veteran was pitching quite well prior to his lengthy layoff, with a 3.20 ERA and 3.52 FIP in 11 starts, and figures to be a major asset for the Padres down the stretch and into the postseason once he’s built up enough stamina to return. The righty will face live hitters tomorrow before the club determines his next steps.
The Giants optioned longtime closer Camilo Doval to Triple-A earlier this month amid struggles that saw the 27-year-old’s ERA balloon up to 4.70 after sitting at an excellent 2.78 at the end of May and a decent 3.93 as recently as mid-July. With a 6.75 ERA from the month of June onward and a disastrous run of eight appearances prior to his option where he posted an 8.59 ERA and walked 16.7% of opponents, San Francisco sent their star reliever to reset in the minor leagues. As first reported by Andrew Baggarly of The Athletic this morning, however, Doval is now back in the majors after impressing in five appearances at the Triple-A level. The right-hander threw 1 1/3 scoreless innings against the Mariners tonight, during which he struck out two on one hit and no walks. Despite his return to action, however, Doval will not be returning to the closer’s role, as Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle was among those to note that manager Bob Melvin is planning to keep Ryan Walker as the club’s primary ninth-inning option going forward.

AL West Notes: Tucker, Miller, Mariners

By Nick Deeds | August 3, 2024 at 9:30pm CDT

Astros outfielder Kyle Tucker has been on the injured list due to a right shin contusion for nearly two months now, but it doesn’t appear as though he’s likely to join the club’s lineup anytime soon as they attempt to pull away from the Mariners in a tight race for the AL West crown. As manager Joe Espada told reporters (including Matt Kawahara of the Houston Chronicle) earlier today, the club is not yet certain if Tucker will be able to contribute in the majors at any point in the month of August. Espada described the situation with Tucker as a day-to-day situation, adding that while it’s a “possibility” he could play at some point this month it would be “too aggressive” for him to commit to that timeline.

It’s a frustrating update for Astros fans, as Tucker had been without a doubt the club’s best hitter prior to the injury. In 262 trips to the plate across 60 games this year, the 27-year-old was slashing an otherworldly .266/.395/.584 (172 wRC+) that made him one of the top bats in the entire sport at the time of his injury. In his absence, the Astros have turned their season around in a big way with a 32-19 record since the start of June thanks in large part to strong offensive performances from previously-struggling players like Yainer Diaz and Alex Bregman. With more of the Houston lineup contributing on a daily basis in recent weeks, it’s easy to imagine the return of Tucker providing the lineup with an additional spark that could help buoy the club as they pursue their eighth consecutive appearance in the ALCS. Of course, even a return sometime in September could give the young star plenty of time to prepare for a potential playoff run while still meaningfully contributing to games down the stretch.

More from around the AL West:

The Athletics offered a positive update regarding injured closer Mason Miller today, as relayed by MLB.com’s Martín Gallegos. According to Gallegos, Miller played catch without his cast today as he rehabs from a fractured finger in his non-throwing hand. The next step for the righty is to throw a live bullpen session in a simulated game on Monday. The 25-year-old phenom has become one of league’s best-known relievers this year by dominating to a 2.21 ERA with a 1.72 FIP in 40 2/3 innings of work as Oakland’s closer, a role that’s seen him rack up 15 saves. Miller last pitched on July 22 and was placed on the IL a few days later after fracturing his left pinkie finger in the club’s training room. If that bullpen session goes well, it seems possible that the righty might be able to skip a rehab assignment entirely and return not long after he’s first eligible to come off the shelf on August 7.
Mariners fans received some unfortunate news from down on the farm recently as Ryan Divish of The Seattle Times reports that shortstop Felnin Celesten underwent season-ending surgery to repair a preexisting hamate injury. Celesten, 18, is the club’s #5 prospect according to MLB Pipeline and was among the top prospects of the 2023 class of international amateurs. Signed out of the Dominican Republic to a $4.7MM bonus, Celesten is considered a high-floor prospect with a strong defensive reputation at shortstop and solid all-around tools. In his first taste of stateside ball this year, Celesten slashed an excellent .352/.431/.568 in 32 Arizona Complex League games before being sidelined by injury. It seems likely he’ll get his first taste of full-season ball sometimes next year once he’s returned from rehab.

Astros Notes: Garcia, Verlander, Tucker

By Nick Deeds | July 14, 2024 at 11:45am CDT

The Astros are pulling back a bit on right-hander Luis Garcia’s rehab process after he didn’t rebound well follow his most recent start in the minors, manager Joe Espada told reporters (including Matt Kawahara of the Houston Chronicle) on Friday. Kawahara went on to note that Espada emphasized that Garcia had not suffered a setback, although plans for the righty to throw a bullpen has been delayed and there’s no timetable for him to make his next rehab start.

It’s a frustrating turn of events for Houston, as the club’s rotation has been beleaguered by injuries all season. Right-handers Cristian Javier, Jose Urquidy and J.P. France are all done for the year after undergoing season-ending surgeries last month, and of the three starters on the IL expected to return this year Garcia appears to be the closest. This latest delay figures to leave the Astros to make the best out of a patchwork rotation featuring Framber Valdez, Ronel Blanco, Hunter Brown, Jake Bloss, and Spencer Arrighetti. Aside from Valdez, only Brown entered the 2024 season with more than a handful of starts at the big league level on his resume and only Blanco has posted an ERA better than league average.

Of course, the return of Garcia would be a welcome one even if the Astros rotation was in better shape. After all, the 27-year-old righty sports a career 3.61 ERA and 3.79 FIP in parts of four seasons in the majors. Garcia had solidly worked his way into the middle of Houston’s rotation prior to the Tommy John surgery that wiped out most of his 2023 campaign, and he figures to pitch key innings for Houston in the second half so long as he can return to action healthy and effective sometime after the All-Star break.

The Astros got more positive injury news regarding the status of right-hander Justin Verlander, who’s been on the IL with a neck issue for the past month. The future Hall of Famer returned to the mound today, however, and while he was initially scheduled for a light bullpen session of just 10 to 15 pitches, MLB.com’s Brian McTaggart reports that he threw a 25-pitch session that included all of his pitches without any issues. That’s a major step forward for the right-hander, and while it’s unclear when the veteran will return to the majors Chandler Rome of The Athletic relayed that he’s expecting to throw another bullpen during the All-Star break.

Injuries have limited Verlander to just ten starts so far this year, and he’s struggled (at least by his own lofty standards) when healthy enough to take the mound with a 3.95 ERA that’s more or less in line with league average and a worrying 4.99 FIP. While his 21.3% strikeout rate and his 7.1% walk rate are both more or less in line with the numbers he posted last year, Verlander’s career-worst 24.8% groundball rate and elevated 9% barrel rate are both cause for concern, and his fastball’s velocity is down half a tick from last year.

Looking toward the positional side of things, outfielder Kyle Tucker provided an update to reporters (including McTaggart) about the shin contusion that’s sidelined him for six weeks now. Tucker told reporters that he’s advanced to throwing on the field and is hoping to return “sometime at the beginning of the second half,” though he didn’t put a specific timetable on his return and cautioned that he’s still feeling some discomfort in his leg.

While the Astros have surged in Tucker’s absence with an excellent 23-11 record since he was placed on the shelf, the club is surely eager to add another star bat back into the lineup alongside Jose Altuve and Yordan Alvarez. Tucker caught fire early in the season prior to his injury and headed to the injured list with a scorching .266/.395/.584 slash line in 60 games despite a lackluster .245 BABIP. If he can contribute anything even close to that upon his return later this summer, it would be a massive boost to the club as they work to catch a division-leading Mariners club that they trail by just one game entering play today.

Astros Notes: Alvarez, Altuve, Tucker

By Nick Deeds | July 6, 2024 at 10:22pm CDT

Star Astros slugger Yordan Alvarez departing today’s loss against the Twins after getting struck in the leg by a pitch. Manager Joe Espada told reporters (including MLB.com’s Brian McTaggart) after the game that Alvarez is “feeling sore” as he nurses the issue, which has been termed a right knee contusion, but that the club has not sent the 27-year-old for any testing.

Alvarez himself spoke to reporters (including Matt Kawahara of the Houston Chronicle) after the game as well, telling them through an interpreter that he was hit on the same spot on his knee a couple of weeks ago and that the inflammation from that previous incident had not yet fully gone away when he was struck this afternoon. Alvarez acknowledged he was in “a lot of pain” following the game but suggested that he and the club would see how he feels tomorrow before making any decisions regarding his status.

It’s the second consecutive day the Astros have lost a key player to a hit by pitch, as star second baseman Jose Altuve was removed from yesterday’s game after getting struck in the wrist by a pitch. Altuve wasn’t in the club’s lineup for today’s game, but Kawahara notes that x-rays on the veteran’s wrist came back negative and that the star expected not to miss much time due to the issue. That may still be the case even after he was absent from today’s lineup, as Espada told reporters (including Kawahara) today that Altuve was available off the bench to pinch hit if necessary today, although youngster Grae Kessinger was the one who ultimately replaced Alvarez at DH.

The fact that Altuve, who has slashed an excellent .310/.360/.466 (136 wRC+) across 86 games this year in his 14th year suiting up for the Astros in the majors, is seemingly poised to avoid the IL is surely a relief for fans in Houston as the club attempts to chase down the Mariners in the AL West. Unfortunately, Alvarez may be even more important to the club’s offense. The slugger has hit at his typical elite level this year, slashing .300/.383/.548 with a 158 wRC+ that ranks ninth in the majors across 371 trips to the plate. For an Astros club that has gotten less offensive output than expected from key pieces like Alex Bregman, Yainer Diaz, and Chas McCormick, the offense both Alvarez and Altuve provide in the lineup is all the more important, and even a brief absence for either player would be troubling.

While two of the club’s star hitters are dealing with injury issues, a third is making progress toward a return from the IL. Espada also told reporters (including McTaggart) today that outfielder Kyle Tucker did some jogging yesterday as he works his way back from a shin contusion that’s kept him on the injured list for the past month. Espada added that Tucker has also been playing catch and has resumed hitting off a pitching machine. Tucker isn’t expected to return to the club until after the All Star break at this point, but the fact that he’s begun doing some light running and basic drills is an encouraging step forward for a player Houston figures to rely on heavily in the second half.

Prior to being placed on the shelf last month, the 27-year-old was in the midst of a career year, even compared to the standards set by his All-Star campaigns in 2022 and ’23. In 60 games this season prior to going on the shelf, Tucker slashed an incredible .266/.395/.584 with a 174 wRC+. While Tucker’s surprisingly low .245 BABIP holds his overall line down slightly, the outfielder was walking (17.6%) more than he struck out (15.6%) and had slugged 19 homers in just 262 trips to the plate prior to his injury. If he can post numbers in a similar vicinity upon his return to action, Tucker will add another key cog to the club’s lineup and surely help shoulder the load that Alvarez and Altuve have taken on in his absence.

AL West Notes: Tucker, Verlander, Bloss, Woo, Jung

By Leo Morgenstern | July 4, 2024 at 11:06pm CDT

Astros manager Joe Espada offered a disappointing, if not entirely surprising, injury update regarding two of his biggest stars. Speaking to reporters (including Matt Kawahara of the Houston Chronicle) ahead of today’s contest in Toronto, the skipper acknowledged that neither Kyle Tucker nor Justin Verlander is likely to return from the IL before the All-Star break.

Tucker has not played since June 3 as he nurses a right shin contusion he suffered when he fouled a ball off his leg. In mid-June, Espada suggested that Tucker would likely require a minor league rehab assignment. With the All-Star break fast approaching and the outfielder yet to begin any on-field work (per Kawahara), it’s hard to imagine he makes it back before the break. The Astros would surely like to have Tucker back as soon as possible, but they have played surprisingly well in their best hitter’s absence. Making sure that he’s healthy for the stretch run is more important than rushing him back in July.

Meanwhile, Verlander has not pitched since June 9; he is dealing with neck discomfort. He is progressing well, but Espada says the future Hall of Famer has not yet gotten back to throwing off a mound. Once again, the Astros could certainly use the veteran in their injury-plagued rotation ASAP, but rushing him back would be a shortsighted move with so much season left to play.

Another point of interest concerning Verlander: As Kawahara notes, it is now extremely unlikely that his conditional $35MM player option for 2025 will be triggered. Even if the 41-year-old were to return immediately after the All-Star break and pitch once every five games for the rest of the season, he would need to average 6 1/3 innings per start to reach the necessary 140 innings pitched.

Finally, Espada also mentioned that rookie Jake Bloss will make a rehab start this weekend. Barring any setbacks, the young righty could make his next start in Houston. Bloss, 23, is generally considered one of the Astros’ better pitching prospects. He landed on the IL with shoulder discomfort on June 21, the same day that he made his MLB debut.

More injury updates from around the AL West:

Rangers manager Bruce Bochy offered reporters an update on Josh Jung, who has been on the IL almost all season. The All-Star third baseman fractured his wrist on a hit-by-pitch on April 1. Jung has recently been nursing a flare-up of discomfort in his injured wrist and has not swung a bat since his last rehab game on June 20 (per Kennedi Landry of MLB.com). However, he has no further structural damage. The Rangers are going to shut him down completely for another week, after which they hope he’ll be able to restart his rehab assignment (per Jeff Wilson of Rangers Today). Needless to say, this means Jung will not be ready to return to Arlington before the All-Star break.
In more positive news, the Mariners aren’t ready to rule out the possibility that Bryan Woo could return to their rotation ahead of the Midsummer Classic. He threw a successful bullpen session on Wednesday (per Daniel Kramer of MLB.com) and will make a rehab start this weekend. If all goes well in that outing, there’s a chance he could make his next start for Seattle. Woo, 24, has pitched exceptionally well in his sophomore season, with a 1.77 ERA in eight starts. Not all of his underlying numbers are quite as eye-catching (4.01 SIERA, 3.96 xFIP), but there’s no doubt the Mariners would like to have the young hurler back as soon as possible to see more of what he’s capable of.

Astros Notes: Verlander, Rotation, Tucker

By Nick Deeds | June 15, 2024 at 10:32pm CDT

The Astros scratched veteran ace Justin Verlander from his start against the Tigers earlier today due to discomfort in his neck. Right-hander Spencer Arrighetti stepped in to make a spot start in Verlander’s stead, but was shelled for seven runs in just 1 1/3 innings of work before he was removed in the second inning.

Verlander spoke to reporters (including The Athletic’s Chandler Rome) prior to the game this afternoon and indicated that his neck has been bothering him for “a couple of weeks” but that he’s attempted to pitch through it to this point. The pain caused him to cut his usual bullpen between starts short earlier this week, but both Verlander and manager Joe Espada indicated that the issue likely won’t result in a trip to the injured list. As Rome notes, the club has three scheduled days off in the next two weeks that will offer the club the ability to be more flexible regarding Verlander’s schedule in the short term.

That being said, the possibility of Verlander missing time is surely a concerning one for the Astros. After all, the club recently lost both Jose Urquidy and Cristian Javier for the season due to Tommy John surgery, and both Luis Garcia and Lance McCullers Jr. have spent the entire season on the IL to this point. Neither Garcia nor McCullers are expected back until after the All Star break as things stand; Garcia appears to be closer to a return after throwing a live batting practice last week (per MLB.com’s Injury Tracker) while McCullers threw a 30-pitch bullpen session yesterday. Garcia is expected to begin a rehab assignment after “two or three” more live batting practice sessions, while McCullers appears to be “on schedule” for a return sometime in August.

With both Garcia and McCullers more than a month away from contributing, the Astros are limited in terms of internal pitching depth behind their current rotation of Verlander, Framber Valdez, Ronel Blanco, Hunter Brown, and Spencer Arrighetti. J.P. France and Blair Henley are both in the minors on the 40-man roster, but France last pitched on April 30 due to a shoulder injury while Henley allowed five runs in his lone big league start earlier this year while recording just one out. Right-hander Eric Lauer is pitching at Triple-A while on a minor league deal with the club and seems likely to be the top non-roster depth option available to the Astros, although he struggled to a 6.56 ERA in 46 2/3 innings of work with the Brewers last year and has posted similar numbers at Triple-A with the Pirates and Astros this season.

In other injury news, MLB.com’s Brian McTaggart provided an update regarding the status of outfielder Kyle Tucker earlier today. Tucker has been on the injured list for just over a week due to a right shin contusion after fouling a ball off of his leg, and McTaggart noted today that Tucker is no longer relying on crutches while moving around the dugout and clubhouse. While that’s certainly a good sign, McTaggart also noted that the soreness hasn’t completely dissipated for Tucker, who is still walking with a limp. According to manager Joe Espada (as relayed by McTaggart), Tucker may end up needing to go on a minor league rehab assignment before he returns if he can’t begin running “in the next day or two.”

A lengthier absence for Tucker would be an unfortunate turn of events for the Astros, as the 27-year-old was on an MVP-caliber pace at the time of his injury. In 60 games with Houston this year, Tucker has slashed a fantastic .266/.395/.584 in 262 trips to the plate while clubbing 19 home runs and stealing 10 bases. That’s good for a fantastic 176 wRC+ even in spite of the slump Tucker fell into in the weeks immediately prior to his injury, where he hit just .150/.255/.300 in his final 47 trips to the plate before landing on the IL. Trey Cabbage and Chas McCormick have split time in right field while Tucker has been on the shelf, with Yordan Alvarez and Mauricio Dubon handling left.

AL West Notes: Evans, Seager, Tucker, Athletics

By Mark Polishuk | June 9, 2024 at 6:23pm CDT

A few players from the 2023 draft have already made their MLB debuts, and Mariners prospect Logan Evans could potentially be coming soon due to his recent move to relief pitching. As Adam Jude of the Seattle Times writes, Mariners president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto recently called Evans with the idea of shifting from the Double-A rotation to the bullpen, since the M’s are currently in the enviable position of having a loaded rotation. Working as a reliever could put Evans on the fast track to the Show, and give the Mariners an extra hard-throwing arm in an injury-depleted pen.

A 12th-round pick out of Pitt, Evans has a sparkling 1.16 ERA over 54 1/3 innings for Double-A Arkansas this season, with a 23% strikeout rate, 7.4% walk rate, and a 53.6% grounder rate. MLB Pipeline’s scouting report also notes that the Mariners received trade interest in Evans as early as last offseason, after he posted an 0.60 ERA in his first 15 pro innings.

Astros Place Kyle Tucker On Injured List

By Anthony Franco | June 7, 2024 at 11:30pm CDT

11:30pm: Houston will recall Joey Loperfido to take Tucker’s place on the active roster, reports Brian McTaggart of MLB.com (on X). Loperfido debuted earlier this season and hit .333/.381/.436 with a homer in 14 games.

8:36pm: The Astros have placed star outfielder Kyle Tucker on the 10-day injured list with a right shin contusion, tweets Matt Kawahara of the Houston Chronicle. The move is retroactive to June 4, meaning Tucker could return a week from now. Houston didn’t immediately announce a corresponding roster move or provide a timetable for his return.

Tucker was injured in Monday’s win over the Cardinals. He fouled a ball off his leg and had to be removed from the game. While the two-time All-Star was on crutches postgame, testing didn’t reveal any fractures. That led the Astros to keep him on the active roster for a few days even though he wasn’t healthy enough to play. He evidently needed more time than the team initially hoped, sending him to the shelf.

It’s probably no coincidence that Houston placed Tucker on the IL just before tonight’s game. A team is allowed to backdate an IL stint by up to three days. Tucker had already been out since June 4. If the Astros had waited into the weekend to put him on the shelf, they’d have pushed back his first possible return date.

The injury halts a fantastic start to the season. Tucker has been a superstar for a few years and has taken his game to new heights in 2024. He has already hit 19 homers across 262 plate appearances. He’s running a .266/.395/.584 batting line with 46 walks against 41 strikeouts over 60 games. If healthy, he should coast to a third consecutive All-Star Game and looks on track to beat last year’s fifth-place finish in MVP balloting.

Despite Tucker’s massive numbers, the Astros head into this weekend’s set against the Angels with a 28-35 record. Their efforts to dig out of that hole will be complicated by the loss of their best player for at least a week. Houston plugged Yordan Alvarez into left field tonight against Griffin Canning, freeing the DH spot for Yainer Diaz and getting Victor Caratini into the lineup at catcher. Trey Cabbage is starting in right field for the second consecutive game.

In other injury news, the Astros announced this afternoon that starters Cristian Javier and José Urquidy each underwent Tommy John surgery (X link via Chandler Rome of the Athletic). Rome had previously reported that Javier would be undergoing TJS on Thursday. Urquidy’s status wasn’t as clear. While the team announced on Wednesday that he was headed for a season-ending elbow procedure, it wasn’t known whether he’d require a full Tommy John or a modified internal brace repair. Both pitchers seem likely to be out past the 2025 All-Star Break. Urquidy, who would be a free agent after ’25, could be non-tendered next winter.

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