Injury to Astros star could make AL West race unnecessarily interesting

Coming into September, the Houston Astros had a significant lead in the AL West thanks to both some strong results in the second half, as well as their division rivals’ struggles. Almost everything was trending in Houston’s direction, and they were overwhelming favorites to win the AL West yet again. There were some concerns about the rotation going forward to be sure, but there was little that suggested that a collapse was coming.

Fast forward to Wednesday night, and things have all of a sudden gotten a little bit dicey. Not only did the Astros allow Oakland to rally and send Houston to their third straight loss, but there is the real possibility that Jose Altuve could miss some time, as he exited the game early with discomfort in his right side.

Jose Altuve’s injury is making Astros fans extremely nervous amid team’s struggles

After the game, Altuve made it clear that he wasn’t too concerned about the injury. He said that he just felt something weird on an awkward swing and was only exercising caution when he decided to bunt afterwards and then tell the trainers about it. Manager Joe Espada echoed that lack of concern as well and, for the moment, Altuve is day-to-day. We will probably learn more on Thursday once Altuve gets a night’s rest and sees how he feels after that.

Still, this is genuine cause for concern. The Astros' offense has been a bit inconsistent lately, and Altuve had been one of Houston's better hitters in September before last night (as per usual), with an 1.123 OPS in eight games this month. It doesn't sound like it is likely he will land on the injured list, but there is a real chance he could miss at least the next couple of games, given that the injury was bad enough to pull him from the game to begin with. It is also worth mentioning here that Altuve missed time this season with an oblique injury, although it doesn't sound like this injury is necessarily related.

With the Astros' lead in the AL West down to 3.5 games, these next couple of games could end up mattering a lot more than fans hoped. While Seattle isn't playing overly well, Houston's losing streak has allowed them to make up some ground in the division. Given Justin Verlander's struggles of late and the sheer number of other things that could go wrong in a relatively tight race, Altuve's injury concerns couldn't have come at a worse time for Houston.

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