Diaz to injured list after hospital stay
OAKLAND -- The Astros placed infielder Aledmys Díaz on the 10-day injured list prior to Sunday’s game against the A’s after he became light-headed and dizzy on the bus on the way to the ballpark Saturday and had to be taken to the hospital, where he stayed overnight. No official diagnosis was given.
“We’re going to take every precaution imaginable to make sure he’s OK,” Astros manager AJ Hinch said. “He should travel back with us [Sunday night] and be back in Houston with our doctors. With the roster the way it was, we needed to make a decision.”
With Diaz headed to the IL, the Astros played with a two-man bench on Sunday and recalled reliever Cy Sneed from Triple-A Round Rock, giving them nine relief pitchers. Houston’s bullpen has endured a huge workload in the last week, and Hinch opted for an extra arm over a third position player. Sneed was optioned following Friday’s loss, but he hadn’t left the Bay Area.
“Our bullpen has been used quite a bit and is very tired,” Hinch said. “We were lucky [Sneed] hadn’t already flown out to Austin. He comes back just in case we need an arm today to get through it. ... We weren’t going to get somebody here very easily, and right now we need to protect our pitching.”
The Astros, as expected, also activated veteran right-hander Brad Peacock from the IL, where he had been since June 28 with shoulder soreness. He joins the bullpen. Rogelio Armenteros was optioned to Round Rock following his spot-start on Saturday.
Diaz, who missed nearly two months earlier this year with a hamstring strain, is hitting .267 with seven homers and 28 RBIs.
Cole likely to start Thursday
Right-hander Gerrit Cole is expected to rejoin the Astros’ rotation Thursday against the Tigers at Minute Maid Park. The Astros are still listing that spot in their rotation as TBA, probably because Cole needs to pitch a bullpen session on Monday to make sure he’s over the hamstring discomfort that caused him to be scratched from his start Tuesday in Chicago.
“A lot has to happen between now and then,” Hinch said Sunday.
Cole said Sunday he feels good after playing catch the last couple of days.
“I gave it a couple of days and felt better and I’m trusting it,” Cole said. “We just pick up right where we left off.”
Cole, the American League Player of the Month for June and July, is a leading candidate for the AL Cy Young Award, going 14-5 with a 2.87 ERA in 25 starts. He is second in the Major Leagues with 226 strikeouts and is 10-0 with a 1.77 ERA with 17 walks and 86 strikeouts in his last 10 starts.