HOUSTON -- The Astros placed Jake Marisnick on the 10-day disabled list on Saturday, after the center fielder pulled up abruptly with a left groin injury in the seventh inning of Friday's 5-2 loss to the Mariners at Minute Maid Park.
As George Springer's reliable defensive backup, Marisnick slashed a double to left field and felt the groin issue when sprinting out of the batter's box en route to second base.
"It's kind of just something that grabbed me a little bit," Marisnick said after Friday's game. "It's more something that scares you [more] than it's painful. With where we're at, they felt it was better to get me out of there than pressing."
The Astros recalled Kyle Tucker, the club's No. 2 overall prospect according to MLB Pipeline, to replace Marisnick on the 25-man active roster and aid an injured outfield.
"Rather than wait a couple days, which you wish you could always do, we decided to make a move," Astros manager AJ Hinch said.
The Astros have two off-days over the next 10 days (Monday and Thursday), so instead of keeping Marisnick active during games he wouldn't play because of the injury, the Astros brought back Tucker, who will be in Sunday's lineup. Hinch said he's unsure if Marisnick's stint will be a minimum of 10 days.
"So if it is minor and it's only a short time [on the DL], at least we have a full team for the time that Jake's out," Hinch said. "Tuck comes back. He had gone down and played pretty well in Triple-A. He will be in there tomorrow."
After his ballyhooed Major League debut on July 7, Tucker made all of his outfield appearances in left field and batted just .156 during a 16-game stint. Tucker, however, is raking in Triple-A since Aug. 1. Tucker is 13-for-34 (.382) with a 1.093 OPS in eight games since his demotion to Fresno on Aug. 1.

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While Tucker's addition adds a left fielder, the Astros are likely to go with the combo of Tony Kemp and Derek Fisher in center field. Fisher was recalled from Fresno to replace Springer (left thumb sprain) when he was placed on the 10-day DL on Monday.
Worth noting
• Springer took swings in a batting cage on Saturday, Hinch said. Springer has now hit in a batting cage twice and the Astros plan to be more aggressive with his batting practice Monday and/or Tuesday. The club is targeting the end of next week for his return. Springer is eligible to return from the DL on Thursday, the Astros' off-day before a nine-game road trip to Oakland, Seattle and Anaheim.