Astros News: Injury updates on Brantley, Whitley, Urquidy

There’s some news on the statuses of Houston Astros players Michael Brantley, Forrest Whitley and Jose Urquidy.

Injuries are going around the game of baseball at an alarming rate, and the Houston Astros are a prime example of that. We already know things aren’t looking good for Roberto Osuna, and now we have some news on key players such as Michael Brantley, Forrest Whitley and Jose Urquidy.

Brantley did not play in Tuesday’s game after also getting the day off on Saturday. Manager Dusty Baker said Brantley has been dealing with a quad injury and might also get the day off on Wednesday. He hasn’t played the outfield since July 28, the first game of the Dodgers series.

In spite of that, he’s been the team’s best hitter so far this season. Through nine games, Brantley is hitting .438/.514/.656 with a homer and six RBIs, leading the league in both batting average and on-base percentage. The 33-year-old is lining himself up for another nice payday in free agency this winter.

Whitley, the team’s top prospect, has been at the alternate site in Corpus Christi but was shut down from throwing over the weekend. According to Baker, Whitley is seeing a doctor, but we don’t know the nature or extent of his injury. The team is awaiting word, and thus so are we.

Urquidy is preparing to throw a bullpen session in Corpus Christi, but is still a good ways away from returning. He missed all of summer camp due to an undisclosed issue and thus was a few weeks behind when he showed up. Baker indicated that Urquidy is “not anywhere close” at this point, so don’t expect to see him anytime soon.

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Additional Updates

Infielder Aledmys Diaz, who has been on the Injured List with a groin strain since he was injured on Opening Day, is still a couple of weeks away. The Astros offense is managing alright without him, of course, so his return isn’t as pressing a need as it is for some of the pitchers.

Yordan Alvarez, who also missed summer camp due to an undisclosed issue, was about 10 days to two weeks away from being ready as of this past weekend. So at this point, it should be at least another week before he’s ready to return. The team’s offense would get a major boost whenever his potent bat is back in the lineup.

Beyond that, we don’t have any real updates on Justin Verlander, who’s still resting his troublesome “forearm” issue. Brad Peacock and Austin Pruitt are still working their way back, and Chris Devenski and Joe Biagini are, in my estimation, probably out until at least next week. There’s no shortage of players missing in action at this early point in the season.