The Houston Astros have battled through a long line of injuries to end the first half going into the All-Star break firmly on top of the division and looking like one of the main contenders in the American League.

 

Coming out of the break was not as smooth though, dropping the first two games of the series to the second place Seattle Mariners as the gap has started to narrow.

Things got even worse on Saturday when star third baseman Isaac Paredes suffered a hamstring injury and had to exit the game. It was revealed on Sunday that Paredes was headed for an MRI, and manager Joe Espada did not express optimism that it was going to be minor.

He was already placed on the 10-day injured list as fans wait with their breath held to find out just how severe the ailment is.

If it’s anything more than a couple of weeks though for Paredes, it’s going to be an extremely difficult storm for the Astros to weather.

Injuries are a reality in this sport, but it really does feel like Houston is dealing with more players out than anyone else and it seems a new name hits the shelf every week.

A lineup that has struggled to replace Yordan Alvarez — another mystery of a return — has been kept afloat in no small part due to the play of Paredes.

The 26-year-old has played 94 games this year and slashed .259/.359/.470 with 19 home runs and 50 RBI as the nucleus of the offense.

Missing both Alvarez and Paredes for an extended period of time greatly limits the power threat, not to mention the endless injuries in the pitching staff as well.

As the Astros get set to approach the deadline, they must do so with the knowledge that they are likely not able to fix all of their injury issues just with trades. A few weeks ago, an extremely aggressive deadline was very much in the cards.