3 options to fill Astros’ 27th roster spot for doubleheader

With rosters expanding to 27, who will the Astros add?

The Houston Astros‘ Wednesday contest with the Minnesota Twins was suspended due to inclement weather. A doubleheader is now in place for Wednesday’s game to start where it left off at 12:10 p.m. Thursday with the second game starting 30 minutes after.

Doubleheaders push rosters to 27 players, and for the Astros, they sit a hand short in the bullpen with the six-man rotation in place. Manager Dusty Baker told reporters Wednesday the club will likely add an arm but didn’t disclose which one, Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle reported.

Joe Perez sits on the 7-day injured list in Double-A, and J.J. Matijevic played all of Triple-A’s Wednesday game in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The bench is already full and healthy, so the addition of a utility player isn’t ideal.

With that being the case, the Astros will likely call up an arm from Triple-A to fill out the bullpen — possibly a reliever who has already pitched in the majors this season. While a long reliever would behoove a doubleheader, Brandon Bielak, Peter Solomon, Josh James and Shawn Dubin pitched in the last two Sugar Land Space Cowboy games.