{"id":71057,"date":"2024-04-21T18:46:54","date_gmt":"2024-04-21T22:46:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/?p=71057"},"modified":"2024-04-21T18:46:54","modified_gmt":"2024-04-21T22:46:54","slug":"cristian-javier-il-neck-injury","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2024\/04\/21\/cristian-javier-il-neck-injury\/","title":{"rendered":"Houston Astros Starting Rotation Suffers Another Injury"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Houston, we have a problem&#8230;an injury problem. Injuries continue to plague the Houston Astros rotation as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/j\/javiecr01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-04-21_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Cristian Javier<\/a> is now the fifth Astros starter on the IL.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Right-hander <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Cristian Javier<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> was scratched from Sunday\u2019s scheduled start with neck discomfort. Astros manager <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/managers\/espadjo99.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Joe Espada<\/a> <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/matthewkawahara\/status\/1782070345949737466\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">later confirmed<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> that Javier would be placed on the 15-day injured list. <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/search\/search.fcgi?pid=brownhu01,brown-008hun,brown-006hun&amp;search=Hunter+Brown&amp;utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-04-21_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Hunter Brown<\/a><\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> started in Javier\u2019s place on Sunday against the Washington Nationals, and <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/a\/arrigsp01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-04-21_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Spencer Arrighetti<\/a><\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> will be called up in a corresponding move.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Cristian Javier will be placed on the IL, Joe Espada said. Spencer Arrighetti is being recalled.<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Matt Kawahara (@matthewkawahara) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/matthewkawahara\/status\/1782070345949737466?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">April 21, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Javier, 27, has brought stability to an Astros rotation that has been plagued with injuries. In four starts so far this year, Javier has pitched to a 2-0 record with a 1.54 ERA. The severity of the injury is unclear, and the Astros have not said when Javier could return from the injured list.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2>Astros Place Cristian Javier on IL<\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Astros just welcomed back <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/v\/verlaju01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-04-21_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Justin Verlander<\/a>,<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> who made <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">his <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2024\/04\/15\/houston-astros-ace-season-debut\/\" target=\"_self\">season debut<\/a> in Friday\u2019s win<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> over the Nationals. Houston still has a full five-man rotation with Javier joining <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/v\/valdefr01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-04-21_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Framber Valdez<\/a><\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/u\/urquijo01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-04-21_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jos\u00e9 Urquidy<\/a><\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/g\/garcilu05.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Luis Garc\u00eda<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, and <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/m\/mcculla02.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-04-21_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Lance McCullers Jr.<\/a><\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> on the injured list. Garc\u00eda and McCullers are out until at least the All-Star break after they both underwent surgery on their throwing arms last year. Urquidy and Valdez recently threw bullpen sessions and are working their way back, but neither has a clear return timeline.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Following Sunday\u2019s loss, Houston is 7-16 and trails the Texas Rangers by 4.5 games in the AL West. Houston\u2019s 5.12 team ERA is the second worst in baseball and is indicative of their depleted starting rotation. If Javier misses significant time, more emphasis will be placed on the bottom half of the Astros rotation. Right-hander <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/b\/blancro01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-04-21_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Ronel Blanco<\/a><\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> threw a <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2024\/04\/08\/houston-astros-ace-historic-start\/\" target=\"_self\">no-hitter<\/a> in his first start of the season<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and boasts a team-leading 1.33 ERA. Meanwhile, right-handers <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/f\/francjp01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-04-21_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">J.P. France<\/a><\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and Hunter Brown have struggled through their first four starts of the season.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Houston has four scheduled off days before the end of April, giving them plenty of time to rearrange their rotation in Javier\u2019s absence. The Astros can get by with a four-man rotation until the right-hander is eligible to return from the injured list. Houston is off on Monday as the Astros travel to Chicago for a three-game series against the Cubs. After being recalled on Sunday, the rookie Arrighietti could make his third career start during this road trip.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Photo Credit: \u00a9 Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Houston, we have a problem&#8230;an injury problem. Injuries continue to plague the Houston Astros rotation as Cristian Javier is now the fifth Astros starter on the IL. Right-hander Cristian Javier was scratched from Sunday\u2019s scheduled start with neck discomfort. Astros manager Joe Espada later confirmed that Javier would be placed on the 15-day injured list. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4975,"featured_media":71068,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[14,1071,35],"tags":[627,2359,5519,6446,3911,247,3912,259,38],"class_list":["post-71057","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-astros","category-mlb","category-news","tag-al-west","tag-framber-valdez","tag-hunter-brown","tag-j-p-france","tag-jose-urquidy","tag-justin-verlander","tag-lance-mccullers-jr","tag-texas-rangers","tag-washington-nationals"],"modified_by":"Lewis Masella, Site Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71057","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4975"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=71057"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71057\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/71068"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=71057"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=71057"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=71057"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}