Houston Astros Report: Charlie Morton headed to the 10-Day DL

The Houston Astros have been bit by the injury bug as of late with some of our guys missing some time.

Although time missed has been insignificant, the Houston Astros continued to persevere despite the challenges.  Yes, Dallas Keuchel and Brian McCann respectively were on the DL and missed about a week of time.  But the beauty of this team of having such a deep roster is that continuity remained paramount and forward trajectory of winning ensued.

But can the Houston Astros overcome the latest news of an injury?  Yes, there’s additional news that Charlie Morton will be headed to the 10-Day DL with a strained lat.

Brian McTaggart of MLB.com was the first to report the injury as it’s now confirmed:

And in a corresponding move to Morton’s absence, Tag also indicated who the Houston Astros were bringing up:

This move comes as somewhat surprising as Morton was not necessarily pitching his absolute best but shined in moments to help the team win.  But the fact that there’s no estimated time of his return back to the lineup is somewhat alarming.  Do we have enough depth in the bullpen to handle the load while he’s out?  Mike Fiers was recently moved to the bullpen after the Astros decided to elevate Brad Peacock to the No. 5 starter.

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It’s easy to gauge if that decision was made in preparation for the loss of Morton.  Peacock is already set to start for tomorrow, which normally would’ve been Morton’s turn in the rotation.  Although there is not an estimated time of return for Morton, I think this will be a wait-and-see type injury, hopefully correcting itself by the time the 10-Day period expires.

But what if it doesn’t?  Then A.J. Hinch will be earning his keep in terms of managing his existing resources so that we continue to win games.  There are capable arms such as Fiers, Chris Devenski and even Jordan Jankowski.  Methinks that we’ll have a “de-facto” starter for a bit with our “long guys” in the bullpen pitching some extra innings to get us through games.

We’re going to see that theory put to test tomorrow.  The last time this happened was just this past Monday, where Peacock, Devo, Will Harris and Ken Giles combined for the 1st 1-hit game in four years. It’s quite possible the magic will continue, hopefully against an improved Minnesota Twins baseball team tomorrow night.

But let’s just hope that Morton’s loss will be as quick with minimal damage as possible.

Morton has posted a 4.06 ERA, tossing 65 strikeouts, allowing 26 earned runs and a decent 1.37 WHIP through 57.2 innings pitched in 10 starts this season.

Go Astros.