Mike Fiers continues to escape the Astros, Albert Pujols doesn’t

The Houston Astros enter Oakland on Tuesday without the chance of playing Mike Fiers once again.

The tale of Mike Fiers continues to unravel how much of a rat the former Houston Astros‘ pitcher has been in his career. While helping paint the picture of how the Astros were stealing signs in 2017, the right-hander hasn’t faced Houston in 2020 or 2021.

With a new “injury” tacked onto Fiers’ name, the Oakland A’s pitcher will not be available against his former employer in the coming series against the Astros. The ball club is soon to start a three-game set with their divisional foes and will not have the opportunity to shell the two-time no-hit pitcher.

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Fiers was placed on the 10-day injured list on May 8 with a right sprained elbow, and although his 10 days would be up by the Astros’ series, don’t expect him back. The big right-hander has pitched to potential this season with a 7.71 ERA through 9.1 innings of work. While struggling to stay in the rotation, Fiers is struggling with more reasons to stay off the IL as well. Remember, the A’s hid Fiers from the Astros in the 2020 regular season and postseason; they can do it again in 19 matchups in 2021.

While Fiers won’t play the Astros, Albert Pujols has a great chance of playing the team that he’s dominated for years. The Astros followed the future Hall of Famer to the American League West, and while now being an LA Dodger, Pujols has the chance of playing Houston four more times in the regular season.

The Astro-killer will travel to Minute Maid from May 25-26, but with a stacked offense already in the works, Pujols’ role will most likely be low-leverage situations. The right-hander has one of the best track records in that park, so why not let him play? The Astros will then travel to Los Angeles from August 3-4.

While both players aren’t highly liked by the Houston fan base, at least Astros fans can have some respect for Pujols and his career. Fiers has done nothing but throw two no-hitters, while there have been 300+ in the history of the game. If somehow the former Astros pitcher is activated and plays, it will be in a relief appearance.