Injury woes continue for the Houston Astros, exacerbating a 6-10 start that currently has them sharing the worst record in Major League Baseball. The Astros have lost seven consecutive games going into Monday’s matchup with the Seattle Mariners.
Shortstop Jeremy Peña was placed on the 10-day injured list with a Grade 1 right hamstring strain. And pitcher Tatsuya Imai is joining several starting pitchers on the IL with right arm fatigue.
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Peña left Saturday’s 8-7 loss to the Mariners in the fourth inning with what was described as tightness at the back of his right knee. He underwent an imaging exam on Sunday to determine the severity of the injury and a mild strain was discovered.
Houston Astros shortstop Jeremy Pena was off to a slow start due to a fractured right ring finger during the spring. (Photo by Jack Compton/Getty Images)
(Jack Compton via Getty Images)
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After batting 1-for-3 on Saturday, Peña’s triple-slash line is .256/.304/.349 with four extra-base hits in 46 plate appearances. Though it’s early in the season and Peña has only played in 10 games, those numbers are a notable decline from the .304 batting average and .840 OPS he posted last year.
However, his preparations during the spring were sidetracked by a fractured right ring finger that prevented him from playing for the Dominican Republic in the World Baseball Classic.
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The 28-year-old was also limited to 125 games last season with a fractured rib (sustained when he was hit by a pitch) and left oblique injuries.
Tatsuya Imai is third Astros starting pitcher to go on IL
The Astros feared that an IL stint for Imai was immiment when he was sent back to Houston on Saturday to evaluate what the team called “right arm fatigue.”
Houston has already placed starting pitchers Hunter Brown and Cristian Javier on the injured list, both with strained right shoulders. Brown is expected to be out until May, while Javier will be re-evaluated in two weeks. Going back to Friday, the Astros play 13 straight games without a day off, putting more pressure on an undermanned pitching staff.
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Imai faced the Mariners on Friday for his third start of the season but lasted only one-third of an inning. Pitching against eight batters, the right-hander allowed three runs on one hit and four walks in an eventual 9-6 defeat. He threw only 17 of his 37 pitches for strikes in the performance.
Following the game, Imai complained of the hard mound at T-Mobile Park and weather cooler than he was accustomed to pitching in Japan. The temperature was 64 degrees at first pitch in Seattle.
In his three starts, the 27-year-old has walked 11 batters in 8 1/3 innings, adding 13 strikeouts. He’s allowed seven runs on seven hits, resulting in a 7.27 ERA. The Astros were hoping for better production from a pitcher signed to a three-year contract that could pay him up to $63 million.
However, Imai showed what he was capable of in his second start, throwing 5 2/3 scoreless innings against the Athletics with nine strikeouts.
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During his eight seasons pitching for the Seibu Lions in Nippon Professional Baseball, Imai compiled a 3.15 ERA and 58-45 record in 159 appearances with a strikeout rate of 8.5 per nine innings. But his walk rate of 4.4 hinted at the concerns that have manifested thus far in his MLB career.
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