Cristian

Javier

Javier allowed two hits and a pair of walks, throwing 28 pitches (16 strikes) in his lone inning of work. The 29-year-old will continue building up his pitch count and stamina for the next couple weeks before returning to Houston’s rotation.

Astros skipper Joe Espada told reporters Javier came out of Friday’s live batting practice session fine from a physical standpoint and will face minor league hitters his next time out. The 29-year-old will likely need a couple outings to build up his stamina and pitch count before returning to Houston’s rotation sometime in June.

It’ll be Javier’s first time facing hitters since hitting the injured list with a shoulder strain back on April 10. The 29-year-old starter will need a couple additional weeks, including a handful of rehab outings, before he’s ready to rejoin Houston’s rotation at some point in June.

We already knew Javier would be sidelined for more than a few weeks with the injury, so this may not meaningfully change his recovery timeline. He was originally placed on the injury list on April 10th, so this now means he can’t return until early June.

This seemed like an inevitability when Javier was pulled from Wednesday’s start due to tightness i his shoulder and is now official. With a Grade 2 strain, he’s going to be sidelined for more than just a couple of weeks. J.P. France was recalled from Triple-A Sugar Land to take his place on the Astros’ active roster.

It’s a massive concern for Houston’s rotation, which lost ace Hunter Brown to a shoulder issue earlier this week. Javier left the contest with a trainer after attempting to warm up for his second inning of work after allowing one run on three hits in the opening frame. The 29-year-old righty will head for further evaluation and imaging to determine the severity of the issue. He’s in serious jeopardy of missing his next start, a rematch against the Rockies at home, on Tuesday. It would likely be AJ Blubaugh moving into the rotation in his absence with Spencer Arrighetti expected to come up and replace Brown already.

The 29-year-old right-hander also issued five walks on the night while recording a pair of strikeouts. The A’s scratched out a run against him in the second inning and added three more in the third — including a two-run double by Max Muncy. They added another pair in the fourth before Javier was mercifully lifted from the game. He got 10 swings and misses on 82 pitches on the night, posting an uninspiring CSW of just 23 percent. He has now allowed six runs in each of his first two starts and will carry a miserable 12.96 ERA and 2.28 WHIP into a brutal matchup against the Rockies at Coors Field on Wednesday. He shouldn’t be anywhere near any fantasy lineups.

Javier was very fortunate to not receive a loss in this one, as he not only struggled, he exited with the team trailing 6-0. Houston would score the next 11 to take him off the hook. He struggled to locate anything with four walks and just one strikeout, and he gave up a pair of homers in a less-than-inspiring first outing of the year. Javier will look to bounce back against the Athletics next week, but this was pretty ugly.

Espada added that Spencer Arrighetti will open the season back at Triple-A Sugar Land before being an option once they expand to a six-man rotation. It’ll be Cristian Javier and Tatsuya Imai taking the ball over the weekend against the Angels before Lance McCullers Jr. starts Monday’s series opener against the Red Sox.

The 28-year-old right-hander walked two batters on the afternoon while striking out two. The lone tally against him came on a solo home run off the bat of Jordan Walker in the third inning. Javier generated eight swings and misses on 69 pitches on the day, registering a CSW of just 16 percent. He finishes the spring with a stellar 1.69 ERA, 1.22 WHIP and a 10/6 K/BB ratio over 10 2/3 innings in his three Grapefruit League starts. His first assignment for the regular season will come next weekend against the Angels.