Astros News: Heyward’s immediate impact in debut, reliever DFA’d, Neris’ uniform number

After a tough series against the Phillies where they lost two out of three, the Houston Astros got back on track with a come-from-behind win over the surprising and quite good Royals on Thursday evening. In addition to getting another strong start from Hunter Brown (despite some questionable umpiring), it also marked the first appearance of Jason Heyward since he was signed.

With September call-ups looming this weekend, here are the latest goings on with the Astros as we are set to enter the final month of the regular season.

Astros News: Jason Heyward's Houston debut highlights his potential impact

While Heyward is a widely recognizable name around baseball, his best days are clearly behind him. He is 35 years old, and while he had a good 2023 season with the Dodgers, the last few years other than his resurgent campaign have been marked by struggles and a lack of consistent contact at the plate. Those struggles led to his release by LA upon Chris Taylor's return.

However, the Astros valued Heyward's leadership, defensive acumen, and potential offensive upside enough to give him a chance, especially with Chas McCormick providing next to no value this year. They were immediately rewarded for their efforts on Thursday, as Heyward hit a two-run double that kept the Astros within striking distance and allowed for their late game rally.

Astros News: Former Yankee Janson Junk designated for assignment in 40-man roster culling

This time of year, most squads have pretty full 40-man rosters, as teams have steadily added guys throughout the year for spot call-ups. While optioning McCormick freed up a big league roster spot for Heyward, there was still the matter of making room on the 40-man.

Ultimately, the Astros decided to designate reliever Janson Junk for assignment. Junk hasn't factored into Houston's plans much this season, and with Ryan Pressly's return from the IL, the path to playing time for him was basically non-existent. We are likely to see more roster moves in the coming days, between September roster expansion coming and guys like Forrest Whitley and Rafael Montero waiting in the wings as bullpen reinforcements, so stay tuned.

Astros News: Hector Neris had to pay up to get his old uniform number back

The Astros lucked out a little bit when the Cubs decided to release Hector Neris, as a reunion with an arm like his this late in the season is a rare gift. While the roster implications were sorted out pretty quickly, there was still the matter of Neris getting his old No. 50 back, given that Tayler Scott was currently wearing it.

Fortunately, that issue seems to have been resolved. After Neris and Scott negotiated a bit, it appears as though Scott was happy to give Neris his old number back. No word yet exactly how much it set Neris back to get No. 50 again, but the general tone from Scott made it sound like he didn't rake Neris over the coals too much.

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