The Houston Astros have had a very good season by pretty much every metric, and with a 69-58 record, they currently stand atop the American League West. While they have somewhat plateaued recently, injuries certainly are a large portion of the reasoning behind that. At one point, the Astros were up in the 14 to 15 range of players on the injured list at one time.
Maintaining a quality roster and ensuring that injured players are replaced in an appropriate time frame has allowed Houston to keep up in the Postseason race so far. While their roster has certainly seen better days, there is also the chance for some of their key players to return late in the year.
Unfortunately, injuries have continued to pile on, though, which has put the team in a difficult predicament, especially at this point in the season, when many of the priority free agents are already off the market. However, the Astros managed to find a pickup for their bullpen recently, signing Craig Kimbrel, who recently opted out of his minor league deal with the Texas Rangers.
Veteran reliever Craig Kimbrel is signing with the Houston Astros, a source tells ESPN. He’ll be joining their big league team.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) August 21, 2025
Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images
Kimbrel is a solid addition, and despite some difficult MLB stints in recent memory for the veteran, he has been able to build himself back up a bit in the farm system of the Rangers. In his 24-game stint with the other Texas team, he put together a 3.86 ERA, 1.143 WHIP, 28 strikeouts, 12 walks, four home runs allowed and five saves.
While this is not perfect, it is a step up from his previous stints, especially with the Baltimore Orioles in 2024, where he struggled to find any momentum to build off of. He ended up with a 5.33 ERA there in 52.1 innings before landing with the Atlanta Braves for 2025, making only one appearance there.
This comes shortly after relief pitcher Josh Hader was placed on the 15-day injured list with a sprained shoulder, retroactive to August 9. Unfortunately, he has had a slow track back, and the latest update is that he is still not throwing. Kimbrel is certainly not a one-to-one replacement for Hader, but he should be able to take some extra reps and keep the bullpen fresh for what could be a Postseason run.
At this point in the season, getting a veteran reliever who still has at least some juice left in the tank is a quality addition. Hopefully, he can find his stride a bit and be a reliable innings-eater for Houston.
