SEATTLE -- Just when the Astros thought things couldn’t get any worse regarding the state of their starting pitching rotation, Cody Bolton was removed from Sunday’s 6-1 loss to the Mariners at T-Mobile Park with mid-back tightness after throwing 42 pitches and recording only three outs.
Another abbreviated outing by an Astros starter has thrust the rotation further in chaos and will force Houston to tap deeper into its starting depth at Triple-A Sugar Land in the coming days, as well as perhaps stretching out some relievers to be able to make the move to the rotation.
Sunday’s loss was Houston’s seventh in a row and dropped the Astros to 1-8 on a 10-game road trip that ends Monday afternoon in Seattle.
Bolton, making his second start, started feeling the effects of being struck in the back by a comebacker Monday in Colorado, cutting short Sunday’s start after he had walked the first three batters he faced in the second inning. Astros pitchers have walked 35 batters in the last four games, and Houston pitchers are averaging a league-worst 6.29 walks per nine innings this season.
“We’re trying to get our catchers set up more in the middle of the plate, trying to change up our attack plan, trying to be more aggressive early in the count with certain pitches -- pitches that we command better with specific pitchers based on their arsenal,” Astros manager Joe Espada said. “Trying different things. This will pass.”
The Astros have already sent three starting pitchers back to Houston during this trip because of injuries. Tatsuya Imai flew back to Houston on Saturday after complaining of right arm fatigue in Friday’s loss in which he recorded just one out and struggled to throw strikes.
Astros ace Hunter Brown and fellow starter Cristian Javier flew to Houston earlier in the week, and each was diagnosed with a grade 2 right shoulder strain. They were placed on the 15-day injured list and have been shut down from throwing for two weeks. There was no update on Imai’s prognosis Sunday.
Friday began a stretch of 13 consecutive games without a day off for the Astros, whose bullpen has thrown more innings (72) than the starting rotation (65 1/3) through 16 games. The Astros are expected to add Spencer Arrighetti to their rotation from Triple-A later this week, with others possibly to follow.
“This is why we went out and signed a lot of pitchers this offseason,” Astros general manager Dana Brown said Sunday on the team’s pregame radio show on KBME-AM in Houston. “We feel like we have some depth now that’s currently in our bullpen. We’re going to have to potentially stretch out [Ryan] Weiss and potentially stretch out [Kai-Wei] Teng.”
Brown said Nate Pearson -- who along with Imai, Weiss, Teng and Monday starter Mike Burrows was acquired in the offseason -- is rehabbing from surgery and will be stretched out as a starter. He also mentioned Triple-A starters Peter Lambert, Colton Gordon and Jason Alexander as rotation options for the Astros.
Houston has not announced any starters beyond Burrows on Monday.
“We feel like right now that we’re going to be able to sustain these injuries because of the depth we have,” Dana Brown said. “We just need to get these guys back as soon as we can. It’s very difficult if you’re going to try to go too many weeks without Hunter Brown. That’s your ace, he’s the big guy, he’s the guy that stops the bleeding, he’s the guy that ends the losing streaks. And when you don’t have your big horse, it makes it real difficult.
“Of course, he would have had two starts on his road trip. This is a temporary turbulent time for us, and we’ll fight our way out of it like we’ve done in the past.”
Alexander threw seven scoreless innings, allowing three hits and one walk against Tacoma -- the Mariners’ Triple-A affiliate -- on Tuesday, then he allowed one run in six innings against the Rainiers on Sunday. The Astros won nine consecutive Alexander starts at one point last summer. He and Arrighetti can at least provide the Astros reliable arms they can put in the rotation until they get over their rash of injuries.
“Tomorrow’s another day,” Espada said. “We’ve got to continue to fight.”