For the Houston Astros, a disastrous series finale went from bad to worse in a matter of minutes. The Rockies completed the series sweep with a 9-1 victory, and Houston witnessed a pair of its key players exit mid-game in the span of a few minutes. Following the latest blow, the Astros fans have lost faith in manager Joe Espada.
After center fielder Jake Meyers left in the top of the second inning, right-hander Cristian Javier followed in the bottom of the frame. Much to the fans’ surprise, the Astros were abruptly missing two key pieces in their unsuccessful bid to avoid a sweep. The Houston Astros took to X to inform that Meyers exited due to lower back tightness, while in the case of Javier, it was right shoulder tightness.
The post read, “Jake Meyers left today’s game due to lower back tightness. Cristian Javier left today’s game due to right shoulder tightness.”
Meyers was in the middle of an at-bat in the second inning when he hurt his back facing Rockies starter Michael Lorenzen. After a quick check from the trainers, Meyers faced one more pitch before exiting the game.
According to ESPN, Meyers stated after the match, “Took a swing, thought I was good to go. Took a harder take and it tightened it up more.”
Brice Matthews took over in the place of the center fielder on a 2-2 count. Matthews delivered a pinch-hit single to left.
Then Javier took the mound for the Astros in the bottom of the frame. After throwing a warm-up pitch, the right-hander motioned to the dugout, and Javier was ultimately pulled from the game after throwing only one inning.
Jake Meyers left today’s game due to lower back tightness.
Cristian Javier left today’s game due to right shoulder tightness.
— Houston Astros (@astros) April 8, 2026
In the single inning Javier threw, he gave up 3 hits, 1 run, 1 earned run while striking out 1. Espada did not have much to add on the injuries, except stating that they have to move on from them.
“Not what I want to see. It’s hard, hard, hard. Got to flush this and get ready to play ball,” Espada said, as per ESPN.
The Astros are being plagued by multiple injuries within a short span. Right-hander Hunter Brown has also landed himself on the 15-day IL due to a strain in his throwing shoulder. Christian Roa from Triple-A will replace Brown.
With the Astros losing the series amid all these injuries, the fans are quickly losing faith in Espada.
Fans react to the Astros’ double injury blow
Taking a dig at the Astros front office and Espada, one fan commented on X, “Did Dana Brown or Espada leave with discomfort as well?” Clearly, fans are not amused with both players leaving the game with similar tightness problems, albeit in different body parts.
One fan wanted to “Fire Espada,” while another noted, “They shoulda been able to trade Meyers this offseason while he has value coming off last season.” The 29-year-old had a career-best season last year. Meyers slashed .292/.354/.373 in 104 games with 3 homers and 24 RBI. Following the season, trade rumors surrounded Meyers, but the Astros withheld as they did not find a suitable match.
“Espada gotta go. Trade Abreu and Yainer. Get Omar Lopez WBC champion to manage. Get a lefty starter, better OF for instance caroll from D backs. Maybe ERod too, pitcher. Bring back hader. Enough of his holiday or trade that mf—er too,” one fan laid out his frustration.
Another Astros fan expressed his frustration, writing, “I left today’s game due to the lack of runs scored.” While the Rockies piled up runs, the Astros’ batters became ineffective against Michael Lorenzen. Brice Matthews’ pinch-hit single was the only run the Astros scored.
“There’s no championship mentality here. That mentality left when Bregman and Tucker left. What’s it going to take to bring that fire back into this team?” noted another fan.
The Astros had traded Tucker to the Chicago Cubs in December 2024 for 3B Isaac Paredes, pitcher Hayden Wesneski, and Cam Smith. The fans are also missing Bregman, who was a part of the Astros’ two World Series-winning years, 2017 and 2022. Bregman had spent the first nine seasons of his career at Houston before he left the franchise after the 2024 season. Bregman left the Astros to join the Boston Red Sox.
So, amidst the battle with injuries, the Astros and Espada need to look within the clubhouse to stop the recent slump.
