Ahead of the series against the San Diego Padres, the Houston Astros have a few injuries to monitor.
The Houston Astros are coming off a tough three game series where they went 1-2 against the Toronto Blue Jays and are hoping to rebound as they prepare for a three game series against the San Diego Padres on the road.
At this point, the Astros stand at 59-57 and are N0. 1 in the AL West, but do have to stave off the Texas Rangers, who are 1.5 games back, and the Seattle Mariners, who are three games back for the division lead.
In preparation for the first game of the series against the Padres tonight, here is a look at the injury report and the players to keep in mind.
Heading into tonight, there are four injuries listed on the injury report to be mindful of, including shortstop Carlos Correa, right-handed pitcher Mike Burrows, outfielder Brice Matthews, and left-handed pitcher Brandon Walter.
Starting with Correa, he got peroneus brevis tendon repair surgery on his left ankle and was placed on the IL list on May 6. Correa was then moved to the 60-day IL on June 2. Currently, there is optimism that Correa could return for the 2026 season as he has been cleared to start swinging, but there is no official word just yet.
Burrows has right elbow neuritis and was placed on the IL list on July 13, which is retroactive to the initial date of July 7. As of now, his return is still to be determined, but he is expected to throw at the team’s facility today in West Palm Beach, Florida.
Matthews has a left knee sprain and was placed on the 10-day IL list with an expected return of the third week in August. Matthews has returned to practice for hitting and fielding ground balls, however he is not running full speed just yet.
Lastly, Walter has suffered a torn ulnar collateral ligament in his left elbow. As a result, Walter was placed on the 60-day IL list on March 25 with an expected return in 2027. Walter had Tommy John surgery on September 25, 2025, so he is on the path to recovery.
Looking at this upcoming series against the Padres, these are injuries that the Astros have known about, so it should not affect the outcome too much.
The pitching matchup tonight will be Robbie Ray of the Padres (10-6 record) against Ronel Blanco of the Astros (0-1 record) and will start what could be a very entertaining three-game series.
There is no doubt that to bounce back, the Astros will need Yordan Alvarez, who leads the MLB in batting average with a .329 average to help get the lineup going and create momentum on the road.
If Alvarez can get the Astros' offense going, Houston could have an opportunity to start the series in San Diego 1-0.
