The Astros announced that they have placed outfielder Daulton Varsho on the 10-day injured list, retroactive to September 23, with left wrist inflammation. Fellow outfielder Jorge Barrosa has been selected to take Varsho’s place on the roster. To open a 40-man spot for Barrosa, right-hander Jason Alexander has been designated for assignment.
Varsho has been dealing with issues in that left wrist all year. He also had an IL stint due to inflammation while with the Blue Jays back in June. Per Chandler Rome of The Athletic, Varsho has two cysts in his wrist which have gotten worse of late.
Perhaps the wrist problems offer some explanation for his downturn in production. Last year, Varsho hit 20 home runs in just 271 plate appearances. This year, in a larger sample of 526 plate appearances, he has just 12 home runs. He had a .238/.284/.548 line and 123 wRC+ last year but is down to a .221/.281/.355 line and 78 wRC+ this year. Things have been even more grim lately, as Varsho has hit just .172/.224/.311 since being traded to Houston at the deadline.
Given that production, this IL placement isn’t a huge loss for the Astros, but they were surely hoping for more and their fallback plans aren’t great either. They have been trying to add a nice lefty bat to their outfield since trading away Kyle Tucker before the 2025 season. Jesús Sánchez, Dustin Harris, Daniel Johnson and many others have been thrown into the mix without much success. The Varsho experiment looks like another whiff, at least for now. Varsho will miss the Wild Card round but could return by the ALDS if the Astros are still alive at that time.
For now, they still have to secure a playoff spot. They are half a game back of the Rangers in the American League West but hold the tiebreaker, so they just need to be even by Sunday night. With Varsho out, Lucas Spence might be the top option to cover the position, even though he has just 45 plate appearances with a .150/.244/.175 line. He is starting there tonight. Taylor Trammell could be moved from left to center at times, with LaMonte Wade Jr. taking more time in left, but Trammell is stretched defensively up the middle. Jake Meyers and Brice Matthews are also on the IL.
Barrosa will also be in the mix but he’s a glove-first guy and likely to be on the bench for late-game defensive substitutions. He has a .179/.244/.301 batting line in his career but five Defensive Runs Saved and 12 Outs Above Average in 647 2/3 innings on the grass. He was outrighted off the roster this week but has quickly been added back. He won’t be eligible for the postseason because he was claimed off waivers from the Diamondbacks September 6, after the September 1 eligibility cutoff. He can help out for now but he’ll be left behind if Houston makes it into the postseason.
Alexander, 33, was claimed off waivers from the Athletics in May of last year. That was a solid pickup for the Astros last year, as Alexander went on to log 71 1/3 innings over 14 appearances with a 3.66 earned run average. His 19.9% strikeout rate was subpar but his 7% walk rate and 45.8% ground ball rate were both good figures. He got some help from a fortunate .273 batting average on balls in play and 79.8% strand rate but his 4.65 FIP and 4.19 SIERA suggested he was pitching pretty well for a depth guy grabbed from the waiver wire.
This year, he has mostly been on optional assignment. He has only tossed 18 1/3 innings in the majors, allowing 19 earned runs in those. He also has an uninspiring 5.03 ERA in Triple-A, though with the caveat that he has been pitching in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League.
Alexander is in his final option year, meaning he will be out of options going forward. That will reduce his appeal as a depth starter, so he has been squeezed off the roster. With the trade deadline long gone, he will have to be placed on waivers. He could perhaps be claimed by a club needing some innings to finish out the regular season. If he clears, he would have the right to elect free agency because he has been outrighted previously in his career.
Photo courtesy of Troy Taormina, Imagn Images
