The Astros outrighted right-hander Blair Henley to Triple-A Sugar Land this afternoon, as famous by The Athletic’s Chandler Rome on X. The 27-year-old rookie doesn’t have the requisite service time or earlier outright on his resume essential to reject the project, that means he’ll return to the minor leagues to behave as non-roster depth for Houston going ahead.
Henley was drafted by the Astros within the seventh-round of the 2019 draft however had his growth thrown off track early in his skilled tenure. He made only one look in an Astros uniform in 2019 earlier than the minor league season was cancelled in 2020, and he returned in 2021 to make simply 5 appearances earlier than present process Tommy John surgical procedure. The rehab course of after going beneath the knife induced him to overlook not solely the rest of the 2021 marketing campaign however all of 2022, and Henley entered the 2023 season as a 26-year-old in Double-A with simply six skilled video games beneath his belt.
The righty’s outcomes left one thing to be desired in that first wire-to-wire skilled season, as he surrendered a 5.06 ERA in 106 2/3 innings unfold throughout 25 appearances, together with 17 begins. Henley’s 22.3% strikeout charge was first rate sufficient, however an 11.1% stroll charge left one thing to be desired whilst he generated groundballs at a powerful 51.2% clip. There was some unlucky luck (together with a strand charge of simply 64.4%) baked into Henley’s outcomes at Double-A, nonetheless, and his 4.48 FIP painted a way more encouraging image of his efficiency headed into 2024.
These stable peripheral numbers had been sufficient to earn Henley a promotion to Triple-A coming into this season, and the right-hander confirmed enchancment by way of outcomes via 13 begins on the degree. In 60 innings of labor, Henley pitched to a 4.50 ERA that basically matched his peripherals from the earlier season. Sadly, a glance beneath the hood at Henley’s efficiency means that he had really regressed by nearly each measure. His groundball charge dipped to 48% and his strikeout charge dropped to simply 19.2% whereas his stroll charge ballooned as much as an ugly 13.2%. Maybe most regarding was his struggles with the lengthy ball, as he allowed almost 1 / 4 (24.4%) of his fly balls to depart the yard for dwelling runs throughout his first keep in Sugar Land.
Regardless of these worrisome peripherals, the Astros had been undeterred from calling the right-hander as much as the large leagues again in April, each as a result of his Triple-A debut had gone comparatively properly (he struck out six and allowed three runs in 5 innings of labor) but additionally as a result of the membership was with out each Justin Verlander and Framber Valdez within the rotation on the time. These rotation woes have solely gotten worse since then, because the Astros are at present counting on a four-man rotation of Valdez, Ronel Blanco, Hunter Brown, and Spencer Arrighetti with the remainder of their rotation depth at present on the shelf.
Even that dire rotation state of affairs wasn’t sufficient for the Astros to provide Henley one other spot begin within the majors after a brutal debut, nonetheless. That spot begin in early April noticed Henley give up 5 runs on 4 hits, three walks, and a success batsman whereas recording only one out and failing to file a strikeout. That leaves Henley with a profession 135.00 ERA and 39.16 FIP on the huge league degree. Each of these figures would certainly come down if the rookie had been to get one other alternative within the majors, however it seems that Henley should proper the ship on the Triple-A degree earlier than Houston offers him one other take a look at the very best degree.
