Correa placed on DL with back ailment

Astros hope All-Star shortstop will return next weekend

June 28th, 2018

ST. PETERSBURG -- The Astros placed All-Star shortstop on the 10-day disabled list Friday with a sore back (retroactive to June 26) and recalled left-handed pitcher Cionel Perez from Double-A Corpus Christi.
Correa, 23, has been out of action since Monday and continues to progress, but not enough to where the Astros felt they could play him this weekend. Correa would be eligible to return July 6 against the White Sox at Minute Maid Park.
"We just need to do the right thing and get him completely symptom-free," Hinch said. "He's not going to be available, and hopefully this is just 10 days and he'll be activated by next weekend, if things go well."
Correa is batting .268 with 13 home runs and 49 RBIs in 73 games.

"He's doing great in terms of step by step and getting back to normal," Hinch said. "He's obviously not doing baseball activities. He did a little bit of agility work. He just still feels a little bit of soreness in his back, and we're not going to mess with it.
"The worst thing we can do is have him come every single day, [saying] 'Maybe I can play, maybe I can't play,' and as soon as he's remotely possible to play, he's going to want to play. We're going to take that out of his hands and be smart, and make sure we don't have this linger any longer than we need to do."
Gurriel leaves team, Reed joins
Slugger AJ Reed joined the club Thursday at Tropicana Field, getting recalled from Triple-A Fresno as the replacement for infielder Yuli Gurriel, who was placed on the three-day paternity list. Reed, who appeared in two games with the Astros last season, was hitting .266 with 18 homers and 67 RBIs in 73 games at Fresno.
"Obviously, it's nice to come up," Reed said. "It lets you know that they're still thinking about you. If I get some at-bats, just try to make the most of it and just hit the ball hard."
Hinch said Reed would start at first base on Friday. He hit 34 homers and had 104 RBIs last year at Triple-A after hitting .164 in 122 at-bats with the Astros in 2016. Reed was named a Pacific Coast League All-Star on Thursday.
"We're going to get him in the mix," Hinch said. "As I told him, when you look at and and AJ Reed and , -- guys that have fought for that spot in the big leagues who maybe start, maybe don't start -- I want to let AJ know he's part of this mix. He's part of what can be a great presence on our bench, or at first base or at DH."
Gurriel is hitting .298 with four homers and 37 RBIs, and he has hit .358 over his last 67 at-bats. Entering Thursday, he led the Major Leagues with a .422 batting average with runners in scoring position.
"We could see him by the end of the weekend, if all goes well," Hinch said of Gurriel, who's back in Houston.