HOUSTON — The injury bug continues to bite the Astros pitching staff. On Saturday, the Astros placed reliever Ryan Pressly on the 15-day injured list.
The team placed Pressly on the injured list retroactive to August 14 with lower back pain. Taking his spot on the roster is Seth Martinez, who was optioned to Triple-A Sugar Land on July 31.
So far this season, Pressly is 0-3 with a 3.86 ERA. He’s primarily been the set-up pitcher for new closer Josh Hader. Pressly had been the Astros closer in the four seasons prior to this one.
As Pressly heads to the injured list, starting pitcher Justin Verlander could be close to rejoining the big league club. Verlander, who’s been out since June 9 with neck soreness, has pitched in rehab assignments with the Sugar Land Space Cowboys and the Corpus Christi Hooks. According to the team, he’s scheduled to pitch a bullpen session on Sunday and could be back in the Astros rotation after that.
Injuries have taken their toll on the Astros’ arms. Staring pitchers José Urquidy and Cristian Javier are out for the season. And Houston manager Joe Espada said a couple of weeks ago that Lance McCullers would probably also not pitch this season. Pitcher Luis Garcia is expected to be on the shelf until around Sept. 10.
As of Saturday, the Astros had a three-game lead in the American League West over the Seattle Mariners. Houston had an eight-game winning streak snapped Friday night against the White Sox.
