Houston Astros: Team should not rush Jose Altuve and George Springer back

Houston Astros players Jose Altuve and George Springer are progressing well with their injury recovery but should they be rush back? Here’s why not.

The Houston Astros are red-hot right now and although they fell to the Chicago White Sox 9-4 last night, they’ve still won 15 of their last 18 games and have a 7.5-game lead over the Texas Rangers in the AL West for a 33-17 record at of the time of this writing.

The way these guys are winning games reminds me so much of the championship seasons with the Houston Rockets, when one guy would go down, there would be another to step up and be able to help their team be successful.  Robert Horry, Sam Cassell, Carl Herrera, Chucky Brown, need I say more?

But as we fast-forward to 2019, guys with the names of Michael Brantley, Aledmys Diaz and Jake Marisnick are getting the job done and I’m extremely grateful to see such a terrific Houston Astros team that’s so deep with talent.  The machine continues to run with precision and it doesn’t miss a beat.

But while those guys are holding the fort down with their various dimensions of talent, Jose Altuve is on track to get back to the field.  It’s amazing that this team has been doing this without their best player and it goes to show that there are so many guys like Alex Bregman and Carlos Correa to go out and pick up the slack.

Anyway, according to MLB.com’s Brian McTaggart, Altuve has been cleared for baseball field drills and can now participate in batting practice with his fellow brethren.

Altuve has been on the injured list since May 11 because of strained left-hamstring and the latest report indicates that he’s been able to work out pain-free.  Although the Houston Astros have been mum on what they’re going to do with Altuve, he will either travel up to Triple-A Round Rock or

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Double-A Corpus Christi, to which both teams will at home toward the end of the week.  I suspect we will know in a day or so of what the final verdict will be.

As for George Springer, he’s participating in batting practice taking swings within the cage and also working out with Altuve as well.  He still remains day-to-day but A.J. Hinch says he’s “moving great,” whatever that actually means.  It sounds encouraging though!

Springer had to be pulled out after just three at-bats in Sunday’s series finale against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park after experiencing what he and the Houston Astros are categorizing as “lower back tightness.”

But here’s the deal — the Houston Astros don’t need to rush these guys back as it seems the breadth of this roster is able to handle the workload quite well.  They should be only released back into the wild jungle when they’re fully healthy to do so.

I’m positive the Houston Astros will make the right decision with this but I just wanted through in my own two cents about this situation.

Houston Astros baseball has been fantastic as of late!

Carry on gentlemen…