Astros lose veteran bat for rest of the season after surgery

The Houston Astros are sitting pretty in the division and as a whole, but they’ll finish the 2022 season without a veteran bat in the lineup. 

It’d be hard for the Houston Astros to have much of a complaint about anything at this point of the season. The club is sporting an 11-game lead in the AL West over the Seattle Mariners — despite that team surging — and has the best record in the American League as a whole as they’ve overtaken the Yankees.

Yet, as the Astros are clearly on a trajectory to not just make the playoffs but also go on a deep postseason run, the latest injury update out of Houston is at least minorly alarming.

On Friday, the team announced that veteran outfielder Michael Brantley underwent surgery and will be out for the rest of the 2022 season.

Astros: Michael Brantley out for season after undergoing shoulder surgery

Brantley has been out of the lineup since June 27 with what was initially called shoulder discomfort, but that has obviously proven to be worse than initially expected.

Prior to the injury, the 35-year-old outfielder was hitting north of .280 with an OPS just a hair under .800 on the season.

Obviously, the Astros have more than survived without Brantley in the lineup, but you can’t underestimate the value of a good, experienced bat in the lineup when the playoffs roll around. This feels like the type of absence that may not seem abundantly important down the stretch in the regular season but could be quite apparent when October rolls around.

With that said, the team did trade for Trey Mancini, who can man the corner outfield spots, at the deadline and have quality performers who have filled in with Brantley out. As such, don’t expect Houston to be going anywhere now or in the postseason after this news.