Life is slowly getting back to the way it was before the pandemic. Unfortunately, it is not to that point yet. The Houston Astros have received a reminder that things are not yet normal, as five Astros have been placed on the Injured List. Of the Astros placed on the Injured List, four of them are starters. The players who were placed on that dreaded list are Jose Altuve, Alex Bregman, Yordan Alvarez, Martin Maldonado, and Robel Garcia. It is not known whether one of these five tested positive for COVID-19 or it is just contact tracing.
Five players have been promoted from the alternate training site in response. Taylor Jones, Garrett Stubbs, Abraham Toro, Alex De Goti, and Ronnie Dawson are being added to the active roster. All five players are expected to arrive at the game on time. They can very well play a big role in Wednesday’s game.
According to Bob Nightengale of USA Today, GM James Click said the players were moved to the Injured List because of the league’s health and safety protocols. “When it rains, it pours,” Click said. “It’s a difficult situation, but we can’t let that take our focus away from winning this game.” Dusty Baker said all five players have received at least one vaccine shot.
Houston dealt with virus-related issues in Spring Training when eight pitchers were sent home due to health and safety protocols. Team activities were not paused at the time and their Spring Training went on.
Major Blow
These issues are a major blow for an Astros team that is sliding. They have lost four in a row entering Wednesday. Houston plays the Detroit Tigers Wednesday night with a chance to salvage the final game of a three-game set. They’ll get a day off Thursday before going on a five-game road trip to Seattle and Colorado. It’s still early in the season, but the Astros can ill-afford to lose these players for an extended period of time.
“Main Photo”
Embed from Getty Images
Players Mentioned:
Jose Altuve, Alex Bregman, Yordan Alvarez, Martin Maldonado, Taylor Jones, Robel Garcia, Garrett Stubbs, Abraham Toro,
