Astros bullpen injury updates only add to the uncertainty of Houston’s stretch run

Things have gone from bad to worse recently for the Houston Astros bullpen. Earlier this year the Astros bullpen took a huge blow when Josh Hader went down with a shoulder injury that will keep him out for the rest of the regular season, at least. 

Unfortunately, the loss of Hader was made even worse recently when general manager Dana Brown said on the team’s pregame show that relievers Kaleb Ort and Bennett Sousa also will be out until the end of the regular season due to their arm injuries. 

While neither of them are the kind of pitcher that Hader is, they’re both important arms who were going to be heavily relied on as the Astros try to hold off the Astros in their quest for the National League Central title. 

Losing Kaleb Ort and Bennett Sousa is really going to put Astros' bullpen depth to the test

Sousa was the first of the two relievers to go on the injured list, as he was placed there at the end of August with a low-grade elbow flexor/pronator strain. He’s going to be re-evaluated in early September, which likely means that his rehab will likely cut into the postseason. 

Meanwhile, Ort was placed on the injured list last week after he allowed four runs in 2/3 of an inning and complained of elbow soreness. 

Brown told the team’s radio that the “best-case scenario” is that both pitchers are able to return during the postseason. 

In the meantime, the team will have to rely on new faces like Enyel De Los Santos and Craig Kimbrel to fill some of the high-leverage roles that Okert and Sousa had previously occupied alongside Lance McCullers Jr., who was moved to the bullpen at the end of August. At the beginning of the season, it was a bullpen that, while flawed, ranked as one of the better ones in baseball. Now it’s a lot of unheralded pitchers, projects or veterans on their last legs. 

If anything, the injuries add more of a spotlight on Brown’s inaction around the trade deadline. While the price for relievers was high, you can never have enough pitching come the end of the season. 

At the very least, none of the trio of Hader, Sousa and Ort are going to return before the end of the regular season, so the Astros are going to have to roll with who they have. And, with the Mariners 2 1/2 games back with three weeks to go, every game means a little more. 

At this point, the battle for the American League West title is one of attrition. It remains to be seen if the Astros have enough bodies left to win that war.  

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