Raynel

Delgado

It’s probably going to be an injured list situation for Delgado after he took a bad hop off his throwing hand during the fifth inning of Wednesday’s contest. The 26-year-old rookie was brought back to the majors earlier this week after Jeremy Peña hit the injured list with a calf strain.

Delgado is assuredly heading for imaging to determine whether he suffered any fractures after taking a bad hop off his throwing hand in the fifth inning. The 26-year-old rookie has been splitting time with Nick Allen at shortstop with Jeremy Peña on the shelf with a mild calf strain.

Delgado gets the call to replace Jeremy Peña on the active roster with Peña placed on the 10-day injured list. The 26-year-old did a decent job in his previous stint with the Astros as seen in a .280 average and four RBI in 13 games, and he should see some playing time with Peña unavailable for at least a week.

Delgado loses his spot on Houston’s bench with defensive specialist Nick Allen returning from the injured list. The unheralded 26-year-old hit .280 (7-for-25) with one homer and four RBI in 13 games for the Astros.

Jake Meyers reached on an error with two outs in the seventh inning, then Delgado crushed the very next pitch from Tyler Holton for a two-run blast that pulled the Astros to within a run at 3-2. Delgado finished the afternoon 1-for-4 and is now hitting .280/.308/.400 with a homer and four RBI in his first 27 plate appearances with the Astros.

Altuve was pulled from Saturday’s game after Zach McKinstry slid into him at second base during the seventh inning. Astros’ skipper Joe Espada told reporters after the game that Altuve was fine, but it sounds like he wants to give the 36-year-old infielder an extra day off just to be on the safe side. Raynel Delgado will start in his place at second base and bat ninth against Jack Flaherty and the Tigers on Sunday.

Peña was removed from Monday’s game with a right hamstring cramp, and the ailment will keep him out of the starting lineup for at least one more game. Consider Peña day-to-day for now, with a chance to return to the lineup for Wednesday’s tilt — assuming it is just a cramp, anyway. Raynel Delgado will handle shortstop duties in Peña’s absence.

Delgado got the start at third base on Tuesday. After knocking a base hit and scoring Houston’s first run on a wild pitch in the fifth inning, he came through in a big spot in the eighth, driving in two runs on a single to give the Astros the lead. The 26-year-old infielder isn’t likely to get much playing time outside of the occasional start, but has plenty of stolen base upside after swiping 24 bags in the minors if he finds himself in the lineup more a few times a week.

Delgado hit .250/.320/.362 at Triple-A Durham before being dealt to the Astros a few days ago. He’ll be a bench infielder in the bigs. If he ever does get a real role, the 24 stolen bases he had point to the fact that he could be an interesting one-category fantasy contributor.

The 26-year-old infielder was acquired from the Rays for cash considerations on Wednesday. He has hit .250/.320/.362 with three homers and 24 stolen bases across 61 plate appearances at the Triple-A level this season. He’ll add depth infield depth and speed off the bench for the Astros.