The Houston Astros officially placed right-hander Cristian Javier on the 15-day injured list Wednesday, ending his season, just a day after he left his start against our Seattle Mariners with a right groin injury. This stings for the Astros, but man, what an untimely blow for Javier, whose last pitch for 2026 came in a 7-0 shutout win over our M’s at T-Mobile Park. He was pulled after just two innings on Tuesday, an exit that he initially believed wouldn’t be serious, saying through an interpreter he expected to make his next start. Nope. That dream is completely ruled out now.
Houston’s Pitching Depth Just Took A Shot
This groin strain is the brutal cap on what’s been a frustrating season for Javier. Dude already missed three months earlier in the year battling a shoulder strain, and he’ll finish 2026 with a 5.14 ERA across 63 innings. You gotta feel for the guy, especially since he’s in the fourth year of a five-year, $64 million extension. What makes it even tougher, and honestly, a little shocking, is that Javier had just found his rhythm again. He was rocking a sharp 1.96 ERA over four outings in September and had finally regained his footing as the Astros’ fourth starter after Hunter Brown, Peter Lambert, and Hayden Wesneski. Just as he was getting hot, BAM. Season over.
New Arm Up, Another Out For The Astros
To fill Javier’s spot, Houston called up left-hander Josh Hendrickson from Triple-A Sugar Land. This is a big moment for the 29-year-old native of Perth, Australia, who’s been grinding in the minors for parts of five seasons and has yet to make his Major League debut. Hendrickson spent his entire minor league season at Sugar Land, posting a 4.75 ERA over 23 outings, 19 of those being starts. To make room for him on the 40-man roster, the Astros moved Jake Meyers to the 60-day injured list. Meyers, their Opening Day center fielder, had already been optioned to Triple-A back in early July and was recently ruled out for the rest of the season after fouling a ball off his knee on September 11.
Javier would have been on turn to pitch in the Astros’ regular-season finale against the A’s on regular rest. Houston entered Wednesday tied atop the American League West with the Rangers, and they’ve got that crucial head-to-head tiebreaker. The state of their playoff pursuit will definitely impact their pitching plans for that final game. This late-season injury is a tough pill to swallow for Houston, and for Javier himself.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Yahoo Sports.
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