Alex Presley has been getting some playing time (by virtue of the injury to Dexter Fowler), and has been having some success in his recent at-bats (.304, 2x2B, HR in 23 at-bats in the last week). Last night, he went 2-4 with a home-run to Right Field of Globe Life Park in Arlington. And as the casual baseball observer understands, Arlington has become the epicentre of the injury universe recently, with the Texas Rangers experiencing more injuries than the last 20 minutes of a close World Cup semi-final.
Anyhow, in his fifth at-bat, Presley worked the count to 3-2, then fouled off a bunch of pitches. After swinging at the tenth pitch of the at-bat, he immediately grabbed his side or lower back, and was removed from the game. L.J. Hoes continued the at-bat, and Presley was placed on the DL.
Replacing him will be the 24 year-old
Mike Bob Robbie Grossman. For the season at OKC, he has hit .337/.417/.497, and in the last 10 games, he has raked to the tune of .474/.565/.658. Of course, his ability to get on base in AAA and smoke the occasional extra-base hit in Oklahoma is not in question. His Major League hitting has been streaky, at best, but a contact guy who can draw walks is not the worst idea for the Astros lineup to have.
He is still only 24, so his career trajectory is far from defined. This represents another opportunity for him, and simple bad-luck for Alex. Not sure how much playing time
Mike Bob will get - I imagine the L.J. Hoes will play CF against lefties, and Kiké Hernandez will continue to split time between Left and Short, with the occasional possible appearance at third or first.
Note is made that the Astros have been fairly charmed with injuries this year at the Major League level. This is perhaps expected from a young team.
