Isaac Paredes’ injury could not have come at a worse time for the Astros

Bad timing.

Eric Cole

Chicago White Sox v Houston Astros / Alex Slitz/GettyImages

Isaac Paredes has been one of the Houston Astros' most reliable players of late. While the .255 batting average could certainly be better, his .353 on-base percentage and 15 home runs have buoyed his value at the plate while being serviceable, if mediocre, defensively. Unfortunately, Paredes' injury on Thursday night threatens to change all of that.

Paredes was removed during the seventh inning of Houston's game against the Chicago White Sox after coming up lame on his way to first base during a groundout. The team later revealed it was a left hamstring injury and after the game, Astros manager Joe Espada said that the team would know more Friday and declined to provide any more specifics.

Given that these sorts of injuries almost always result in missed time (and sometimes even a trip to the injured list), Paredes' injury couldn't have come at a worse time.

Isaac Paredes' injury threatens to derail Astros' surge

After a slow start, the Astros have been playing extremely well while the rest of the division has tripped over their own shoelaces. Winners in seven of their last 10, Houston has stretched their lead in the AL West to 4.5 games. With the rest of the AL West struggling to do much of anything right, now is the time for the Astros to pad their lead a bit.

Unfortunately, Paredes' injury threatens to change all of that. Paredes has been a key table-setter for the Astros all season long. Houston's offense has already been sketchy this season. With Yordan Alvarez on the IL, and the prospect of not having Paredes in the lineup will put a lot of pressure on struggling hitters like Cam Smith and Mauricio Dubon to finally get going.

With series against the Athletics and Los Angeles Angels on tap, this next week-and-a-half is becoming a crucial stretch for Houston. If Paredes' injury is minor or the Astros keep scoring runs while he's out, Houston will be in the driver's seat heading into the second-half of the 2025 season. If they stumble, the AL West standing could get far more interesting.

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Eric Cole

I started my career writing about baseball covering the Atlanta Braves for SB Nation's Talking Chop back in 2015 which has since been renamed Battery Power. After years of writing for those fine folks, I made the decision to take over as Site Expert at House That Hank Built before becoming a full-time MLB Staff Writer for FanSided in 2023. Along the way, I have been a guest on multiple ESPN radio affiliates as well as 680 The Fan and 92.9 The Game to discuss Braves baseball and especially Braves prospects and was a long-time host on the Battery Power podcast. These days, I continue to write about the Braves as well as covering the Astros, Padres, and Angels with particular expertise with minor league coverage, the MLB Draft, and bashing Anthony Rendon when possible. When I am not writing about or talking about baseball (which is seldom), I am an avid baseball card collector (Maddux and Soroka being my primary personal collections) and I also collect shark teeth. All other sports are mostly dead to me as my Bills have broken my heart too many times.