Astros: Jandel Gustave undergoes Tommy John surgery

The Astros will lose righthanded reliever Jandel Gustave for the rest of the season after he underwent Tommy John surgery.

A beleaguered Astros pitching staff just took another hit. Right-hander Jandel Gustave, who has been on the DL since April, underwent Tommy John surgery Wednesday, according to The Houston Chronicle’s Jake Kaplan.

Gustave had previously been diagnosed with just a flexor strain, according to Kaplan, so the surgery news came as a surprise. But when it comes to the UCL, the end result is usually not good.

Recovery time usually takes one year or more, so he likely won’t return until the second half of next season at the earliest. It wouldn’t be out of the realm of possibility to not see Gustave back in Houston until 2019 if his recovery time is delayed much.

As you may recall, Gustave was plucked from the Astros system as a Rule V draft pick of the Boston Red Sox way back in 2014.

The 24-year old then eventually found his way back in the Houston organization not too long afterwards. He has then spent the past two seasons working his way up in the Astros minor league system.

Fast forward to 2017 and Gustave broke camp with the Astros after beating out righty James Hoyt for the final bullpen spot. He struggled once the season began, though, posting a 5.40 ERA with seven walks and two strikeouts in five innings. Now an overworked bullpen loses a potential helping hand for the rest of the season.

In his debut season in 2016, Gustave posted a 3.52 ERA in 15.1 innings, striking out 16 and walking two. The hard-throwing righty is just 24-years old, so there is still time for him to recover and return to form. The Astros will hope he can potentially help the team late next season if his recovery goes smoothly.

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In the meantime, the Astros bullpen will continue to survive as the unit is one of the deepest in baseball. But it has also been taxed as of late due to the starting rotation’s own injury issues. Losing Gustave doesn’t help in this particular aspect.

***Statistics courtesy of Baseball-Reference***