A left oblique injury will send Astros catcher Yainer Diaz to the 10-day injured list, manager Joe Espada tells the Houston beat (relayed by Chandler Rome of The Athletic). Houston called up César Salazar this evening with Diaz unavailable, so they probably won’t bring up another catcher when the IL stint is finalized tomorrow.
Zach Dezenzo and Shay Whitcomb — the latter of whom was optioned tonight as the corresponding move for Salazar’s selection — are the only healthy position players on optional assignment to Triple-A. Teams ordinarily cannot recall an optioned hitter for at least 10 days, but an exception is made when they’re called back up to replace an injured player.
Diaz will be the sixth hitter to land on Houston’s injured list. He joins Jeremy Peña and Jake Meyers as regulars who are out of action. They’re also down six starting pitchers — including three of their projected top four arms in Hunter Brown, Tatsuya Imai and Cristian Javier — and have been without closer Josh Hader all season.
The injury continues what has been an ugly start for Diaz. The 27-year-old has been one of the better offensive catchers in MLB over his three-plus seasons. His numbers gradually trended down each year from a fantastic rookie campaign, though, and he has really struggled offensively through the first six weeks. Diaz is hitting .248/.264/.356 with a pair of home runs through 106 plate appearances.
One of the most aggressive hitters in the league, Diaz has always had a low on-base floor. He has generally hit for solid averages and ranked fourth among catchers (behind Cal Raleigh, Shea Langeliers and Salvador Perez) with 59 homers between 2023-25. Diaz’s ground-balls are up and his hard contact rate way down in the early going.
It’s nevertheless a sizable hit to Houston’s lineup. Christian Vázquez has hit very well (.316/.371/.491) in the early going, but he had one of the game’s lightest bats in each of the last three seasons. The Astros are surely pleased with what they’ve gotten from Vázquez’s minor league contract. Still, he’s probably miscast for a primary catching job at this stage of his career. The Astros have given Salazar limited MLB opportunities over the past few years.
Espada didn’t specify a timeline for Diaz’s return. There’s a wide range of outcomes on oblique injuries depending on the severity of a strain. Even moderate strains tend to cost hitters a few weeks to a month.
