Astros reliever Joe Smith to the DL as Reymin Guduan is recalled

The Astros make a roster move early this morning.

According to Brian McTaggart, the Astros send Joe Smith to the 10-day DL with elbow discomfort. After signing the two-year $15 million deal, Smith got off to a rocky start in Houston. In April, Smith had a 9.64 ERA. He responded in May and June with a 1.13 ERA and 3.86 ERA respectively. Overall, Smith has a 5.49 ERA with 20 strikeouts in 19 2/3 innings.

When you hear the phrase “elbow discomfort,” you often think Tommy John surgery is needed. That is not always the case, but the Astros will take it safe and get some tests done while he is on the 10-day DL. With about $12 million still to pay on Smith’s contract, they will hope to get him back soon.

Welcome back, I hope you have a good one Reymin.

On the other side of the deal, we will see a familiar face join the team. According to McTaggart, a left-handed reliever, Reymin Guduan, has been promoted. Guduan made his MLB debut last year, pitching in 22 games. While he did strike out 16 batters in 16 innings, he also allowed 12 walks. In those 22 games, Guduan also allowed 14 earned runs, giving him a 7.88 ERA in his rookie season.

Still classified as a rookie, Guduan will get a chance to regain the Astros confidence in him. He has pitched well this year with the Fresno Grizzlies. Guduan has a 3-1 record with a 3.10 ERA while striking out 43 hitters in 29 innings. The key to understanding how Guduan is performing is to examine his control, where he has walked 18 batters this year.

With the Astros last year, he averages 6.8 walks per nine innings pitched. He has lowered it a little with 5.6 walks per nine innings pitched, which is still high. You can expect the big league hitters to be a lot more selective, so we can see his walks increase with the Astros. With Tony Sipp becoming more dependable, we could see Guduan be used in the lefty specialist to limit his exposure.

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Why not bring James Hoyt back up, as he is the only Fresno Grizzlies reliever to pitch for the Astros this year? Maybe the upcoming matchups favor having the second lefty in the bullpen. It could also be a way to reward how Guduan is pitching in the minors. The Astros will be having to make some decisions prior to the trade deadline, so they will see what they got in Guduan.

***Stats via Baseball-Reference***