Latest news with #ShawnDubin
Washington Post
a day ago
- Sport
- Washington Post
Astros' Cristian Javier exits game against the Orioles because of an illness
HOUSTON — Houston Astros starter Cristian Javier left Sunday's game against the Baltimore Orioles after three innings because of an illness. Javier allowed three hits and a run with two strikeouts before being replaced by Shawn Dubin for the fourth inning. The team announced that he had left with an illness without providing any further details.
New York Times
6 days ago
- Sport
- New York Times
Astros squander a 7-game AL West lead in loss to Red Sox
HOUSTON — Here stood Shawn Dubin, the latest symbol of this season-threatening problem. Dubin strained his right forearm June 21 and missed the Houston Astros' subsequent 44 games. On his first day back, in the sixth inning, this battered ballclub needed one out from a bullpen that had already been punched in the gut. Manager Joe Espada asked Dubin to procure it. Advertisement Before his injury, Dubin averaged 94.5 mph with a four-seam fastball that, at times, has reached 97. None of the nine he threw Tuesday touched 95. The one Alex Bregman belted for a two-run home run arrived at 93.3 mph. Of the 558 fastballs Dubin has thrown as a big leaguer, only 20 others were slower. Dubin faced five hitters before collecting the one out this depth-starved club sought. A two-run deficit turned to seven, fitting for a team that finished squandering its seven-game American League West lead with a lifeless 14-1 loss against Bregman and the Boston Red Sox on Tuesday night. Dubin does not deserve outsized blame. Nor does Espada, who had few other options at his disposal. This is just the embodiment of a bigger problem. Hope alone isn't prudent in the pursuit of a playoff spot or division title. Yet, mid-August has arrived, and the Astros are hanging on to it from every corner of their clubhouse as the Seattle Mariners continue to surge. The two teams are in a dead heat with 42 games remaining, shrinking any margin for error. 'That's what we live for, right?' third baseman Carlos Correa said. 'That's when it gets fun, when there's good competition and good teams out there you have to compete against and try to beat. They're playing great baseball. We just have to step it up a notch.' An entire city hopes Correa can catalyze this ballclub. Both his aura and baseball acumen are unmatched in the view of his teammates and those who cheer for them. Vibes around Houston and inside the team's clubhouse have never been higher, highlighted by the raucous scene, endless standing ovations and excessive extravagance during Correa's return to Daikin Park on Monday night. Correa has played in 11 games since the Astros reacquired him at the trade deadline. Houston has won just five of them, a fact Correa's mere presence has helped to mask. The Mariners, meanwhile, are 10-1 across that same stretch. It is unfair to insinuate the Astros have played poorly — a win Wednesday would give them three series wins in a row, after all — but pitted against the Mariners, mediocre or middling isn't good enough. Advertisement Correa himself has been brilliant, raising his OPS by 36 points in just 44 at-bats while heightening the attention paid to small details. He is considered one of the game's savviest players, a 30-year-old infielder multiple team officials have likened to another coach. Monday, Espada even acknowledged he can 'delegate some responsibilities to Carlos.' 'With all the young guys, it's important for them to understand that we didn't get here by just showing up and playing. We got here because we prepare, we study, we analyze, because we took advantage of the flaws of the team we're facing, and we knew what those flaws were,' Correa said. Before Correa came back, as many as 18 Astros resided on the injured list at once, from reigning All-Stars to former rotation mainstays. Health has improved but is still in a state where no one person — not even Correa — can compensate. The left shoulder strain closer Josh Hader suffered Monday only complicated the problem and forced Dubin into a leverage spot Tuesday. A timeline for Hader's return is unknown. Ditto for slugger Yordan Alvarez and center fielder Jake Meyers. What they could actually provide on the field is anyone's guess, but just mentioning their names seems to lighten moods and prompt positivity among team officials. There is hope Dubin can bounce back and become the right-handed weapon this bullpen needs in the wake of Hader's injury. Tuesday, Espada hoped Alvarez will face live pitching this weekend at the team's spring training complex and, perhaps, take another step toward appearing in a major-league game for the first time since May 2. Monday offered hope for the stabilization of a two-man starting rotation. Pitching on a major-league mound for the first time in 15 months, Cristian Javier struck out five Red Sox across five innings of two-run ball. Sans Hader and setup man Bryan Abreu, the bullpen came within one hit of blowing the game. Advertisement '(Injuries) happen to a lot of teams, it's just been happening to our team a lot more often, especially a lot of the studs that help the team in a big way,' Correa said. 'The organizational depth that we have here is crazy, and that's how we're still in the position we're in today.' Correa is not wrong. Thirty-seven days ago, the Astros could've staked a claim as baseball's best team. Their injury-riddled roster did not deserve the title, but still boasted a record worthy of the distinction. A skeleton crew bludgeoned the sport's most expensive roster across a three-game sweep at Dodger Stadium, surged 20 games above .500 and started distancing itself from Seattle. On July 6, the final day of that Dodgers sweep, FanGraphs gave the Astros 85.9 percent odds to win the American League West. Houston has lost 18 of its 30 games since and seen its probability plummet to 43.8 percent, according to those same odds. 'For me, I look at it this way,' Espada said, 'tomorrow we come out (with) Hunter Brown on the mound, we win the game, that's three series wins in a row. That's what we want to try and do.' That's the hope. Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms Play today's puzzle
New York Times
6 days ago
- Sport
- New York Times
All-Star closer Josh Hader lands on IL with shoulder strain as Astros' injury issues continue
HOUSTON — Add another injury to a Houston Astros season that has been defined by them. The Astros placed All-Star closer Josh Hader on the injured list Tuesday, one day after he reported shoulder discomfort and did not pitch in a save situation against the Boston Red Sox. The Astros only described Hader's injury as a left shoulder strain and backdated his IL stint to Aug. 11. The team has reinstated right-hander Shawn Dubin from the IL and recalled left-hander Colton Gordon from Triple A. Veteran Héctor Neris was designated for assignment. Advertisement Hader, 31, has never been on the injured list during his nine-year major-league career aside from a stint on the COVID-19 IL in August 2021 after he tested positive for the virus. According to Astros manager Joe Espada, Hader experienced pain in his shoulder after completing some of his plyometric work prior to Monday's game. Hader warmed up to pitch in Sunday's game at Yankee Stadium, but went unused after the Astros scored three runs to widen their lead and eliminate a save situation. The left-hander has converted 28 of his 29 save chances during a dominant season that produced his sixth All-Star selection. His 28 saves trail only San Diego's Robert Suarez and Kansas City's Carlos Estévez for the major-league lead. Hader's 2.05 ERA is lower than that of both Suarez and Estévez. Among American League closers, only Seattle's Andrés Muñoz and Boston's Aroldis Chapman have lower ERAs than Hader, who is in the second season of a five-year, $95 million contract he signed last winter. Hader has appeared in 42 of the Astros' first 67 wins while only throwing in six losses, underscoring his importance to a team that thrives on its run prevention and execution in close games. The Astros entered Tuesday with a 21-12 record in one-run games and 56-1 when leading after eight innings, two marks that are a testament to Hader's dominance. Setup man Bryan Abreu, he of a 1.67 ERA and 13.1 strikeouts per nine innings, is the most obvious option to take closing duties in Hader's absence. Nothing behind Abreu is as settled, meaning Espada may take a matchup-based approach before handing the ball to his substitute closer. Hader joins seven other Astros pitchers on an injured list that has grown as large as 18 players during this star-crossed season. Within the past week, starters Cristian Javier and Spencer Arrighetti have returned from long-term injuries — which at the time was encouraging news for the team's overall pitching health. Hader's shoulder discomfort now diminishes that progress. Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms Play today's puzzle
New York Times
19-05-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Astros' Colton Gordon delivered pizzas while rehabbing. Now, he's fighting for a rotation spot
HOUSTON — Clematis Pizza operates on the busiest street of downtown West Palm Beach, Fla., the spring training home of the Houston Astros and permanent residence for their rehabbing minor-league pitchers. Those recovering from reconstructive surgery sometimes stay at the South Florida complex for up to six months. Advertisement Colton Gordon could leave after four. He underwent Tommy John surgery a month before the Astros selected him in the eighth round of the 2021 draft. After signing his contract, Gordon arrived in Florida for a foreseeable future filled with little fanfare. Loneliness looms after almost all elbow surgeries. Days are interminable, devoid of the only thing any ballplayer dreams of doing. Meticulous muscle exercises or conditioning drills replace the bullpen sessions and simulated games often seen at a spring training complex. 'You get into autopilot mode very easy, just being isolated from the team and not being able to be around the guys every day,' said reliever Shawn Dubin, one of the injured pitchers Gordon met upon his arrival. 'You're kind of by yourself, for the most part.' Gordon does not do well with inactivity. He keeps a football in his locker and is fidgety by nature, always in search of something to pass the time. Dubin, Gordon and a slew of other injured Astros would visit the beach or the Worth Avenue Clock Tower to take their mind off such a monotonous routine. Gordon's rehab and physical therapy at the team's complex ended around noon each day. 'I'm not about to sit in a hotel room all day and just waste away time,' Gordon thought. So, one afternoon, Gordon walked into Clematis Pizza with a proposition. Low on cash, full of free time and with a functioning Ford F-150, he sought a side hustle — but he made sure the bosses understood his conditions. 'I'll let you know up front, I only got four months,' Gordon told them, 'but I'd love to deliver pizzas.' Gordon got the job and gained some perspective. Driving around his new home allowed him to get acquainted with the city, but also offered an outlet to forget about the reason he lived there in the first place. 'It just gets yourself away for a little bit of the day,' Gordon said. 'Do something that wasn't going to take away from baseball by any means, but also not just sit there and run around in (my) head of what I wanted to do. Obviously, I wanted to be playing ball.' Advertisement Five years later, with the luxury of a six-figure salary, Gordon's wish is granted. He will return to South Florida for his second major-league start on Monday against the Tampa Bay Rays at Steinbrenner Field, a homecoming for a St. Petersburg native who navigated the road back from reconstructive elbow surgery. Gordon injured himself during his redshirt sophomore season at the University of Central Florida, the third school of his four-year college career. That he sustained it in May only heightened concern about Gordon's stock in the following month's draft. Enough pitch data and performance existed from Gordon's prior two collegiate seasons to make the Astros comfortable selecting him in the eighth round. Gordon showed up to one of the team's pre-draft workouts wearing a full arm brace, but boasting the same infectious personality that's become common in every clubhouse he's entered. 'He's one of the most unique, funny guys I've ever met,' Dubin said. 'But when it comes time to lock in, he's tunnel vision.' Gordon's fastball and strike-throwing ability piqued the Astros' interest, as did the possibility of signing him at a discount following surgery. Bear in mind, Houston selected high school outfielder Tyler Whitaker with its first selection and signed him for more than double the pick's assigned slot value. Gordon's $127,500 signing bonus was $47,500 less than his slot value. Delivering pizzas didn't cover the difference. Gordon doesn't remember what the pizzeria paid him, but the tips he accrued in one of the nation's wealthier cities left a lasting memory. Security guards working a party outside a mansion gave him $100 for delivering 10 pepperoni pizzas. 'At the time I was like 'Damn, that was awesome,'' Gordon said. Gordon delivered food for about five hours most nights, sometimes sneaking in a pre-shift nap following his arm rehab. At the end of most nights, the restaurant allowed Gordon to take slices and some other entrees home free of charge. His review? Advertisement 'Fire. Really, really good,' he said. 'I've been around guys in the minors before, and they had to get jobs on the side, but I never thought I'd be doing it. It worked out, man. It was fun.' Being a major leaguer is far more enjoyable, a fact Gordon has confirmed across his first six days in the show. He surrendered three runs across 4 1/3 innings during his major-league debut last week, getting the club deep enough to stabilize its six-man rotation during a stretch of 17 games without an off day. 'The thing that excited me the most was his ability to pitch with the fastball,' general manager Dana Brown told the team's pregame radio show on Sunday. 'He's got the crossfire because he (pitches) across his body, it adds a little deception. He was able to pound that fastball in. I'm hoping he can use the fastball a little bit more.' Gordon's repertoire includes two types of fastballs and four secondary pitches, but is predicated on pinpoint command and pitchability. Gordon walked just 2.8 batters per nine in 123 ⅓ innings at Triple-A Sugar Land last season. His aggression in the strike zone impressed team officials during his debut last week, even with an arsenal that did not miss many bats. The whirlwind of Gordon's call-up and debut only started to slow down on Saturday, he said, but he's still learning some lessons. He walked out for a bullpen session on Friday afternoon with his weighted balls inside a plastic bag from the Astros' team store. On Saturday, he graduated to a team-issued duffel bag. Gordon's importance grew with Sunday's revelation that pitcher Hayden Wesneski will receive Tommy John surgery. His start on Monday could double as an audition to remain in the Astros' rotation when it shrinks to five, especially if the club is more interested in using Ryan Gusto as a swing man until Spencer Arrighetti is ready to return from a fractured thumb. Advertisement Whatever the role, Gordon seems ready to relish it, recognizing the road he's traveled. 'When you work so hard for so long for something and you get to live it for a couple days, it's — I don't want to say mind-blowing — but it's just like 'Wow, this is it,'' Gordon said. 'There's a lot of appreciation with that.' 'It's what it's all about. It's The Show. I don't think I'll ever lose the appreciation for it.' (Photos: Thomas Shea / Imagn Images)
