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Astros place Yuli Gurriel on the 10-day DL afterall
Not so fast Astros fans, Yuli Gurriel goes on the 10-day DL.
The Astros have a 5-1 record so far this season. They will continue to play the Orioles for one more game and then will play three versus the Padres. Outside of the second game of the season, the offense has played well. J.D. Davis has not shown the potential, he did this spring. However, there is no desperation to make a rash decision.
Some casual fans may have wondered where Gurriel was tonight. I heard a lot of people at the game saying they thought La Pina would be back. He will, but not as soon as we thought.
The Astros need Gurriel for the long-haul, so they want him to recover. Even when the Astros were saying that they expected him in the lineup tonight, I was skeptical. According to Jake Kaplan, Gurriel was officially placed on the DL today. He can return on April 13th.
The Astros had hoped to get Yuli Gurriel back tomorrow but they have now decided to place him on the 10-day DL, effective tomorrow. "We just decided to err on the side of caution," A.J. Hinch said.
— Jake Kaplan (@jakemkaplan) April 3, 2018
Any setbacks?
When asked about what changed? A.J. Hinch said, “we just decided to err on the side of caution,” via Kaplan. There has not been any setbacks in Gurriel’s recovery according to Kaplan. Instead, he will report to Double-A.
From Kaplan’s Tweets, it appears that they just wanted to give him more time. The minor league season will start on Thursday, so look for him to get plenty of at-bats. Gurriel is an integral part of the lineup, let him come back when he is ready.
"There's been no setback,” Hinch said. "There's not really any issue other than we want to give him a couple more days and our only option is put to him on the DL."
— Jake Kaplan (@jakemkaplan) April 3, 2018
The Astros will play without Gurriel for now.
While Gurriel plays at Corpus, you will continue to see Marwin Gonzalez get most of the playing time at first. Meanwhile, we will get an extended look at J.D. Davis when he plays. Davis does not impress with a .091 batting average, but he still has time to show what he’s got. Also, Derek Fisher will also benefit with more playing time.
Next: Astros: First series win in the books
If you were like my wife tonight during the ring ceremony, it was disappointing to not see Gurriel there. The Astros couldn’t have won the World Series last year without Gurriel. Here is hoping that he gets hot with the Hooks and joins the lineup on April 13th.
***Stats from Baseball-Reference***