Well, crap. Jed Lowrie has been diagnosed with a tear in a ligament in his right thumb. This will require surgery, and he'll be out until after the All-Star Break.
Jonathan Villar - not Carlos Correa - has been called up from Fresno to replace him. Lowrie had played in 18 of the Astros' 19 games this season and posted a .300/.432/.567 line. While it's hard to gauge WAR through the first three weeks of the season, it's worth noting that the Astros are losing what has been the 2nd-best shortstop in the Majors (1.1 WAR, behind Jose Iglesias' 1.4 WAR).
So yeah, losing Lowrie is going to be a hill for the Astros to climb.
We didn't come out here to play tiddlywinks, son.
-Hal Smith
