Injury to keep Grossman off field for rest of year

ARLINGTON -- Astros general manager Jeff Luhnow conceded Tuesday afternoon rookie outfielder Robbie Grossman won't be able to get on the field again this season. Grossman hasn't played since straining his oblique swinging the bat Sept. 3 against the Mariners.

"At this point, given the amount of time he's missed, I think it's not wise to rush him back and play him a couple of games," Luhnow said.

Grossman, acquired last July from the Pirates in the Wandy Rodriguez trade, was one of the team's biggest bright spots this season. He had two different stints with the Astros, hitting .322 with nine doubles, four homers, 18 RBIs and seven RBIs after being recalled from Triple-A on July 27.

"If you look at what Robbie did this summer, it was a big summer for him mentally and he's put himself in good position to not only be considered as part of our mix next year, but as a candidate to be a regular everyday outfielder and potentially a leadoff-type guy," Luhnow said.

"It was a good year for him. We had the advantage of being able to give him two extended periods of play. The first one didn't go quite as well as he or we wanted to, and the second one went very well. At the end of the year, it was a good season for him and us."

Astros manager Bo Porter became a big fan of Grossman during the spring and summoned him to Houston at the end of April when Justin Maxwell got hurt. He struggled at first, but Porter's faith didn't waver.

"I think it's a credit to him in taking the information from his first stint here down to the Minor Leagues and understanding exactly what [hitting coaches] John Mallee and Dan Radison and the coaches at Triple-A worked with him on," Porter said. "He came back here and proved he belongs here."