Houston

Astros

Burrows was sent down a week ago, only to have the option rescinded after he complained of the arm issue. He could get another look in Houston’s rotation in September, depending on how things work out.

McCullers is making $17 million this year in the final year of a five-year deal, so this was mostly a salary dump to free up money for other trades. Fielder, who is the son of Prince Fielder, is hitting .233/.415/.398 in 45 games at Single-A with three home runs, 34 runs, 23 RBI, and 10 steals. He also doesn’t seem to have a real defensive position, so he’s a long shot to push for MLB at-bats in the future.

No word yet on what the return will be, but this is a surprising development given how long McCullers has been a part of the Astros organization. The veteran is close to returning from a shoulder injury, but he also posted a 6.86 ERA in eight starts to begin the year so the Astros seem to feel he doesn’t fit into their rotation plans anymore. The Brewers have had plenty of success in the past with pitchers who have lower velocity, but a deep mix of pitches, so it wouldn’t be surprising if they were able to get a good run of production out of McCullers the rest of the way. We still wouldn’t add him in anything but deep 15 team leagues.

This qualifies as an encouraging update after Sousa hit the injured list with elbow inflammation. The 31-year-old lefty should make it back to Houston’s relief mix at some point later this month.

Burrows was demoted last Tuesday after going 4-9 with a 5.99 ERA in 18 outings, but that’s voided now and he’ll keep earning service time while recovering from the elbow issue. Maybe we’ll see him back in the majors in September.

Santa has a 1.17 ERA in 15 1/3 innings over 10 appearances for the Astros, but he’s returning to Sugar Land for now. Ronel Blanco might be activated in his place prior to Friday’s game.

Altuve got the Astros on the board with his 11th homer of the season; a solo shot off MacKenzie Gore in the fourth. The 36-year-old has shown some decent pop, but he’s mostly scuffled in the first half of 2026 with a .235/.307/.404 slash.

It’s the first loss of the season for Hader. The 32-year-old gave up a pair of hits without recording an out, and then an RBI single from Brandon Nimmo gave the Rangers the win. Even with the struggle Sunday, Hader still has an ERA of 1.17, and to say he’s in no danger of giving up his closing gig is the understatement of understatements.

It’s a small sampler because of injury, but it’s probably not a good sign when three innings of three-run baseball sees your ERA actually drop to 9.98. It was his first start since returning from the shoulder strain, and it somewhat predictably didn’t go well as he allowed four hits and three walks to go with four strikeouts. It remains to be seen if Javier will remain in the rotation. Fantasy managers have the luxury of not having to worry about Javier; he can remain on the waiver wire.

Matthews hurt the knee when he hit the wall while attempting to make a catch early in the contest. The 24-year-old will likely undergo testing, and the Astros will have the All-Star break to determine whether Matthews needs a trip to the injured list.