Astros Roster Update: Luis Valbuena Goes on DL

Astros put Valbuena on the DL so that White could come up, Fister is still with the team.

In a surprising turn of events, the Houston Astros put Luis Valbuena on the disabled list, retroactive to July 27th. It was initially believed not to be a serious injury, but apparently, the injury was more severe. The Astros first/third baseman would now go on the DL, meaning that the Astros will recall Tyler White through Valbuena’s injury and not Doug Fister‘s paternity leave.

White is starting in tonight’s lineup versus the left-handed pitcher as the designated hitter, with Jason Castro taking a seat while Evan Gattis catches. As I wrote yesterday, White has rediscovered his swing at Triple-A. Because of Valbuena’s injury, his stay will seem to be longer that the no more than three days stay on the paternity list for Fister.

Before we talk more about White and Valbuena, let’s take a look at who will come up when Fister does go on leave. When the Astros call up Joseph Musgrove, it will be to stay in the rotation. He is too valuable of a prospect to call him up just to send him back down when Fister returns. Musgrove is on the 40-man roster, but Brady Rodgers and James Hoyt are not on the 40-man roster. Don’t expect these two players to be added to the 40-man roster just for three games.

If not Musgrove, then the Astros could call-up Josh Fields or Kevin Chapman for a few days, which seems to be the most likely option for the Astros. There is an outside dark horse candidate in Brad Peacock who has played well in 2016, despite Astros fans constantly wanting to take him off the 40-man roster. If this is a temporary move for the Astros, I see the Astros bringing up Fields to pitch out of the bullpen.

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Valbuena going on the DL could have been caused by the fact that they had already called up White and Fister’s wife was not ready to deliver quite yet. This way, they get the hitter up, and they will wait for Fister, who only gets three days of paternity leave.

With Valbuena getting hurt, Jon Morosi seems to think that the Astros will be more motivated to go out and acquire a hitter. With Yulieski Gurriel‘s getting his visa to play soon, he is expected to play in Double-A, he could be the ‘deadline acquisition’ the Astros need. Could this lead them to change their mind about going after Jonathan Lucroy or Jay Bruce?

I think the Astros are confident in the depth they have, but another impact bat couldn’t hurt. They should upgrade the depth in the starting rotation, but the Astros offense tends to struggle collectively at the same time. Welcome back Tyler, and we will see what move is made when Fister goes on leave. My guess is that Fields gets called up.

***Stats from Baseball-Reference***