From the moment that the Houston Astros revealed that Josh Hader needed further testing to look into his ailing shoulder, the odds of him hitting the injured list were extremely high. The Astros had to know they were taking a risk when they left Hader in against the Yankees as long as they did and once we knew it was a shoulder injury, the only question was how long he would be out and who would replace him.
However, what fans didn't know was the scale of the roster shuffling that would follow.
On Tuesday, the Astros did indeed place Hader on the IL with a shoulder strain without revealing more information about Hader's tests. However, Houston also reinstated Shawn Dubin from the injured list which helps the bullpen's cause. On top of that, they also recalled Colton Gordon for some rotation depth and designated Hector Neris for assignment.
Astros have placed LHP Josh Hader on the 15-day IL (retro to Aug. 11) with a left shoulder strain...the club has also reinstated RHP Shawn Dubin from the 15-day IL, recalled LHP Colton Gordon from Triple A and designated RHP Hector Neris for assignment.
— Brian McTaggart (@brianmctaggart) August 12, 2025
Josh Hader lands on the injured list as Astros make multiple roster moves to get their pitching staff in working order
We'll start with the easy stuff first. Neris was a funny story as a guy the Astros could not quit, but his stuff is a shadow of what it once was and he was on the short list of Astros who could get axed if/when the roster needed a trimming.
Gordon had already spent significant time in the big leagues with mixed results and the injured list move allowed Houston to bring him back up before he would normally be eligible to reinforce the rotation. Dubin is returning from a forearm strain and while he is no Josh Hader, he had been throwing very well before he got hurt. His return gives the Astros some much needed bullpen depth especially with Hader out indefinitely.
As for Hader, we should know more about the nature of his injury soon, but don't expect much unless it is very severe. Houston is notoriously less-than-transparent about injuries and fans are going to have to read the tea leaves a bit to figure out exactly how long Hader could be out.
