The Houston Astros had one more tuneup before the shortened 2020 season begins on Friday and it looked like the bats haven’t missed a bit after last season, rolling to a 15-6 exhibition victory over the Kansas City Royals.
The high-powered offense looked great on Tuesday with five home runs on the afternoon, including a leadoff home run in the fourth by George Springer. The pitching staff’s performance was pretty strong as well with Enoli Paredes going two innings in relief of Bryan Abreu and striking out five batters.
However, it wasn’t all perfect with former AL MVP Jose Altuve leaving Tuesday’s contest in the fourth inning with a left leg contusion. Manager Dusty Baker mentioned after the game that he is listed as day-to-day.
“We’re hopeful he’ll be ready on Friday,” Baker said. “We’ll analyze him tomorrow and see where he is in the morning. Usually the day after that, you’re pretty sore.”
Losing someone like Altuve in a shortened season for any period of time leaves a huge gap in the lineup that not many players on the Astros roster can fill.