Houston (31-39) hands the ball to Tatsuya Imai (3-3, 5.24) at 7:10 PM CT, with Luinder Avila (1-2, 4.02) going for the Royals. Imai is the high-profile Japanese signing who has been all over the map in his first MLB go-round — 8 strikeouts in his last outing against the A's is the version Houston paid for, the early-season clunkers are the version that has Joe Espada publicly defending his rotation spot.
Avila wasn't even supposed to be starting. He's filling in for Cole Ragans, whose elbow has shelved him on the 15-day IL and pushed a guy most evaluators pegged as a bullpen arm back into the rotation. He's been fine in the role — 5 innings of 1-run ball against the Twins last time out — but the strikeout numbers (3 in that start) tell you he's pitching to contact and praying.
- Day-To-DayPeter Lambert SP — Lambert (5-4) earned the win Friday over the Athletics after tossing 5.1 innings of one-run ball. He allowed five hits and four walks while fanning four.
- Day-To-DayWalker Janek C — Double-A Corpus Christi placed Janek on its 7-day injured list Sunday due to an unspecified injury.
- 10-Day-ILYainer Diaz C — Diaz (oblique) is starting a minor-league rehab assignment Tuesday, Chandler Rome of The Athletic reports.
- 10-Day-ILLaMonte Wade Jr. 1B — Wade left Monday's game against the Angels with right hamstring soreness, Brian McTaggart of MLB.com reports.
- 10-Day-ILNick Allen SS — Allen was removed from Sunday's game against the Athletics due to left hamstring discomfort.
- 10-Day-ILBraden Shewmake SS — Shewmake (groin) is not in the lineup for Sunday's game against the Brewers, Matt Kawahara of the Houston Chronicle reports.
- 15-Day-ILBennett Sousa RP — The Astros announced Friday that Sousa (elbow) has begun a throwing progression, Chandler Rome of The Athletic reports.
- 15-Day-ILLance McCullers Jr. SP — The Astros announced Friday that McCullers (shoulder) began a throwing progression, Chandler Rome of The Athletic reports.
- Day-To-DaySeth Lugo SP — Lugo's (head) CT scan came back negative.
- Day-To-DayAnthony Simonelli SP — no
- Day-To-DayJavier Vaz 2B — Vaz (fingers) has produced a .238/.304/.262 slash line with zero home runs and three stolen bases in 10 games since being activated from Double-A Northwest Arkansas' 7-day injured list April 22.
- Day-To-DayTyson Guerrero RP — no
- 10-Day-ILKyle Isbel CF — Isbel has been diagnosed with a Grade 3 tear of a portion of his left plantar fasciitis.
- 15-Day-ILNick Mears RP — Mears (shoulder) began a throwing progression this week and could progress to a bullpen by the end of the week, MLB.com reports.
- 15-Day-ILKris Bubic SP — Bubic (elbow) yielded six runs (five earned) on eight hits and one walk over 1.1 innings in his first rehab start with Triple-A Omaha on Tuesday.
- 15-Day-ILCole Ragans SP — Ragans (elbow) will throw a bullpen session Wednesday, Anne Rogers of MLB.com reports.
The big news on the Kansas City side dropped Wednesday: Kyle Isbel was diagnosed with a Grade 3 tear of his left plantar fascia and there is no timetable for a return. That's the center fielder and a top-of-the-order spark plug gone for a while, with Kameron Misner getting the call up and Lane Thomas sliding over. The Royals also have Seth Lugo day-to-day after a CT scan came back negative, which is the best news they've had all week.
Houston's IL is its own horror show — Hunter Brown, Lance McCullers Jr., Cristian Javier, Hayden Wesneski and Ronel Blanco are all out, Carlos Correa just had ankle surgery, Yainer Diaz is on a rehab assignment and LaMonte Wade Jr. tweaked a hammy in LA on Monday. That the Astros are still even within shouting distance of .500 is mostly a Yordan Alvarez thing (.316, 22 HR, 48 RBI through Thursday).
Both teams are limping in. The Astros dropped 2 of 3 to the Angels and have lost 3 of their last 5. The Royals won 3 straight, then got punched in the mouth by the Rangers twice in a row at home, including a 4-2 loss Thursday where Corey Seager went deep. Kauffman has been a tough park to score in all year, and with Isbel out the Royals' lineup got shallower fast.