Astros Select Josh Hendrickson, Place Cristian Javier On Injured List

7:31pm: It’s a Grade 2 strain for Javier, manager Joe Espada tells reporters (including Chandler Rome of The Athletic). 7:10pm: The Astros announced they’ve selected lefty Josh Hendrickson onto the major league roster. Starter Cristian Javier lands on the 15-day injured list with a right groin strain. Houston recalled outfielder Jake Meyers from Triple-A and placed him on the 60-day injured list to open the necessary 40-man roster spot. Meyers suffered a broken left kneecap on a foul ball in the minors last week. Those are the only moves Houston has announced so far, but it seems there are a couple more coming. Matt Kawahara of The Houston Chronicle observed that Lucas Spence is listed as tonight’s starting center fielder against Seattle’s George Kirby. The Astros don’t have Brice Matthews listed on the lineup card, suggesting he’s likely headed for the injured list after making an early exit from Tuesday’s game. Spence will be recalled from Triple-A. Javier made an early exit from yesterday’s start. He completed two innings but was lifted for Miguel Ullola in the third. Javier will miss the rest of the regular season and at least the first two rounds of the postseason if the Astros qualify. It’s the second injured list stint of the season for Javier, who missed most of the first half with a shoulder strain. He initially returned as a reliever but replaced Tatsuya Imai in the rotation at the end of July. Javier has pitched to a 4.10 ERA over 41 2/3 innings since drawing back into the starting five. Houston is down to a four-man rotation of Hunter Brown, Peter Lambert, Hayden Wesneski and rookie Ethan Pecko as they try to hang onto the AL West lead. The Astros are tied with the Rangers but hold the tiebreaker, giving them a slight edge on Texas with five games remaining. More to come. View Comments (1)