HOUSTON — A team that can ill afford any more attrition may be bracing for more.Houston Astros second baseman Jose Altuve will undergo imaging Sunday morning after injuring his left side on a swing in the eighth inning of Saturday’s 4-1 win against the Texas Rangers.With a runner at first base and no outs, Altuve reached across the plate and hit a rollover groundball to third base. Instead of running down the first-base line, Altuve appeared to grab his left side and began to walk toward the dugout. Video showed Altuve grimacing after taking the swing and as he trudged toward the dugout.“It’s not good he couldn’t even get out of the box and run,” manager Joe Espada said.Espada and an athletic trainer met Altuve at the top step of the dugout and escorted him to the team’s clubhouse. Altuve, who homered in the first inning against Texas starter Jacob deGrom, did not emerge to play defense in the ninth inning.Altuve politely declined comment after Saturday’s game, but said he would speak on Sunday after receiving results from his MRI. The 35-year-old franchise icon is slashing .245/.326/.380 across his first 163 plate appearances.
Missing Altuve for any length of time would further cripple a ballclub that will struggle to absorb it. Houston has 14 players on the injured list, including ace Hunter Brown, closer Josh Hader, third baseman Carlos Correa and shortstop Jeremy Peña.Correa already underwent season-ending surgery on his left ankle, and Peña has not played since April 11 while nursing a hamstring strain. Peña is currently on a minor-league rehab assignment and, barring any setbacks, should rejoin the Astros during their upcoming road trip to Minnesota.If Altuve must miss any time, Nick Allen and Braden Shewmake are experienced second basemen. Brice Matthews made the majority of his minor-league starts at second, but has become the team’s everyday center fielder while Jake Meyers recovers from an oblique injury.Meyers, like Peña, should return to the major-league team this week in Minnesota. When he does, Houston could move Matthews back to second base — his more natural position — and allow Meyers to reprise his role in center field.It is not ideal, but such is the refrain across the first 47 games of this star-crossed season. The Astros are 19-28, though hanging on to a modicum of momentum after capturing a series against their intrastate rival and winning consecutive games for the first time since May 2-3.Even while doing so, adversity can’t be averted.“It’s frustrating, for sure, because I see these guys preparing the right way every day. I see guys taking care of their bodies. Altuve is dialed in. He eats the right stuff. He lives right,” said first baseman Christian Walker, one of the precious few Astros to avoid an injured list stint this season.“It’s truly just a part of the game. It’s frustrating. It’s annoying. But it’s starting to get into the ‘win anyway’ category. You want everybody on the field, you want our team to be full strength, but if we can’t, we have to find a way to win. And that’s the mindset right now.”
