Astros receive brutal injury update on .829 OPS third baseman
The latest victim is third baseman Isaac Paredes, who has not played since July 20 with what was originally diagnosed as a hamstring strain, but is now expected to miss 6-7 months with a hamstring tear, according to Bob Nightengale of USA Today.
Nightengale also noted that there is hope he will be ready for Opening Day 2026.
This is a tough update not only for the Astros but for Paredes, who was enjoying a fantastic debut campaign in Houston. After being one of the key returns in the Kyle Tucker trade, Paredes paid dividends on the risky move.
He was batting .259 with an .829 OPS, a 129 OPS+, 19 home runs, 50 RBIs, and 49 walks to 67 strikeouts over 94 games and 351 at-bats.
The Astros did acquire infielder Ramón Urías from the Baltimore Orioles. He is primarily a third baseman, and should assume Paredes' job, but he can also play second base, shortstop, and occasionally first base.
While this is unfortunate timing to lose a contributor like Paredes, Houston has already proven it can absorb monumental losses. Tucker is gone. Yordan Álvarez has not played since early May. Alex Bregman, Carlos Correa, and George Springer have also departed in recent years.
Plus, Jeremy Peña, Lance McCullers Jr., Brandon Walter, Cristian Javier, and Spencer Arrighetti are still out.
Yet, despite all of that turnover, the Astros are still one of the standards in the American League, and hold a relatively cushy 5-game lead over the Seattle Mariners in the AL West.
There is still plenty of baseball left, but Houston looks like a legitimate pennant contender, even without Paredes, and should maintain an aggressive deadline approach.
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10 players to watch down the stretch: Red Sox's Dustin May, Yankees' Cam Schlittler, Mariners' Cole Young and more
Now that the dust has settled after a wildly busy trade deadline, we have a clearer understanding of the rosters teams will be deploying for the remainder of the season. Across the league, contending teams have addressed needs with fresh faces, while non-competitive clubs have shipped off older players, yielding playing time for younger ones. Every summer, many players' outlooks and the lens through which they're viewed are altered by the whirlwind of trade activity. The fallout of the deadline can impact the trajectory of a player's career in myriad ways, whether or not a player himself is traded. With that in mind, here are 10 players I'll be watching closely down the stretch and how the deadline has impacted their roles and expectations moving forward. [Join or create a Yahoo Fantasy Football league for the 2025 NFL season] OF Jesus Sanchez, Houston Astros While the undisputed headline of Houston's trade deadline was its stunning reunion with Carlos Correa, Sanchez's addition via trade with Miami is also a critical one for the Astros in their quest to secure yet another AL West title. With Kyle Tucker no longer around and star slugger Yordan Alvarez still on the injured list, the Astros' lineup has lacked any semblance of left-handed power this season. No team has hit fewer lefty homers than Houston's measly total of 12: three from Alvarez, seven from switch-hitting catcher Victor Caratini, two from Taylor Trammell. It's quite clear that Sanchez was added to address this severe hole in the roster. The 27-year-old is virtually unplayable against southpaws, but that's just fine; he simply needs to mash right-handers when called upon to help balance out a lineup that has become troublingly lopsided. That Sanchez ended up being the only key Marlin shipped out at the deadline is also a compelling subplot, as the outfielder was one of the longest-tenured Fish but no longer fit on a roster that features a host of up-and-coming position players. Now Sanchez is in a completely new setting tasked with filling an ultra-specific role for a team set on competing for a championship; can he rise to the occasion? We're about to find out. SP Dustin May, Boston Red Sox One of the clear themes of this year's deadline was the lack of starting pitching on the move, with interested teams largely failing to meet the sky-high asking prices for impact arms. Boston was one of the primary contenders seeking high-end controllable starting pitching that was unable to secure a deal. Instead, the Red Sox managed to reel in two pitchers with notably less fanfare in lefty reliever Steven Matz and May. Interestingly, May — who has missed a ton of time due to injury over the past handful of years — had been one of the Dodgers' most durable pitchers this season, but his inconsistency and the recent return of several higher-profile arms squeezed him out of the rotation. May faces significant questions about both his effectiveness (his 4.85 ERA ranks 73rd out of 85 pitchers with at least 100 innings) and how he'll manage his burgeoning workload (he just crossed the 100-inning threshold for the first time since 2019). But now he gets a fresh start of sorts in a Red Sox rotation that is also seeking stability. Dissatisfaction from the fan base regarding Boston's inability to land a higher-caliber starter such as Joe Ryan is obviously not May's responsibility, but he might bear the brunt of that sentiment if he's unable to deliver reliable results. 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Horton has pitched quite well of late — four of his past five starts have been scoreless outings — but the Cubs might be facing a bit of a conundrum with him in the coming weeks. He has already thrown 102 ⅔ innings this season between the minors and majors, a massive increase over the 34 ⅓ frames he completed during an injury-marred 2024. That's a considerable jump in workload year-over-year for a young pitcher, the kind that might need to be monitored as the season progresses. With veterans Javier Assad and Jameson Taillon expected back in the coming weeks, perhaps Horton downshifts to a relief role down the stretch in an effort to manage his innings. On the flipside, Horton has looked like one of Chicago's best rotation options at times, so the Cubs might face some tough decisions about how to deploy him over the next couple of months, decisions that will be made only more difficult by the Cubs' not adding more rotation help at the deadline. SP Cam Schlittler, New York Yankees As evidenced by their bevy of moves to address their position-player depth and bullpen, the Yankees might not have viewed upgrading their rotation as a top priority at the deadline. But New York's starting staff is an unproven cast of characters beyond the headlining duo of southpaws Max Fried and Carlos Rodon, with Schlittler the most anonymous hurler of the bunch. That we are even discussing the 24-year-old rookie righty as a viable rotation option is both a credit to his development and the result of a remarkable turn of events, considering the number of arms that were ahead of him on the depth chart entering the season. Yet here we are, with Gerrit Cole and Clarke Schmidt out for the season due to elbow surgery and veteran Marcus Stroman freshly released, leaving Schlittler a place in the rotation with the Yankees in the thick of a playoff race. Luis Gil's recent return from injury is encouraging, but it might take a while for him to rediscover his form. Will Warren, another rookie, has consistently found whiffs but not always enough outs. That leaves Schlittler and his high-90s heater as an unlikely key character for the Yankees just a handful of starts into his major-league career, even if the restocked bullpen should ease the burden on the starting staff to some extent. How Schlittler looks with each progressive outing could play a major role in determining the club's outlook come October. 2B Cole Young, Seattle Mariners For the past two months, half of the Mariners' infield has consisted of rookies, with Young at the keystone and Ben Williamson at third base. Williamson acquitted himself well, considering his relative lack of minor-league experience, but his minimal offensive production ultimately made his position one worth upgrading, which Seattle accomplished with the acquisition of Eugenio Suarez. 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The 24-year-old right-hander might not rack up whiffs like his rotation mate, rookie sensation Jacob Misiorowski, but Priester is an elite groundball-getter and an ultra-dependable presence whenever he's on the mound. He has suddenly become a crucial cog in Milwaukee's push for the NL Central title and could be a mainstay in the Brewers' rotation for years to come. 1B/3B Coby Mayo, Baltimore Orioles With Ryan Mountcastle still on the injured list and Ryan O'Hearn dealt away, the runway is officially and finally clear for former top prospect Mayo to get regular reps at first base and DH for the Orioles. But this window will not be open forever. The next wave of heralded young Baltimore bats (Samuel Basallo, Dylan Beavers) is already knocking on the big-league door and should be arriving in search of at-bats sooner rather than later, making it imperative for Mayo to seize the opportunity at hand before he ends up in limbo like the similarly hyped Heston Kjerstad. The 23-year-old has proven virtually all he can in Triple-A, but his dwindling defensive versatility — he has played just three games at third base and zero in the outfield with Baltimore this season — and lack of consistent production in the big leagues thus far paint an ominous picture for his future in the organization. But for a hitter as talented as Mayo, let's not be too hasty in discarding the possibility that his breakout is just around the corner. SS Brooks Lee, Minnesota Twins Another player who should benefit from the deadline departures around him, Lee is primed to take over at shortstop full-time for the Twins in the wake of Correa's trade to Houston. 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