Astros to reportedly activate Isaac Paredes from IL for AL West showdown vs. Mariners

The Houston Astros are expected to add a key bat to their lineup for this weekend’s crucial series against the Seattle Mariners.

Isaac Paredes has been on the injured list since July 20 due to a strained right hamstring, missing 55 games. Before being sidelined, he posted a .259/.359/.470 slash line with 19 home runs (still tied for third on the team), 15 doubles and 50 RBI.

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Paredes’ return comes at an ideal time for the Astros, who lost Yordan Alvarez after he sprained his left ankle while running across home plate in Monday’s 6-3 win over the Texas Rangers. Alvarez wasn’t placed on the IL, but he suffered a “pretty significant” injury, according to manager Joe Espada.

The Astros and Mariners begin a three-game series Friday at Daikin Park in Houston tied for first place in the AL West at 84-69.

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Paredes opted against surgery, which would’ve ended his season, in favor of a platelet-rich plasma injection in August to accelerate healing, according to The Athletic. He has been taking live at-bats, running the bases and fielding ground balls for the past two weeks at the Astros’ spring training complex in West Palm Beach, Florida. The goal was for him to return by the postseason, but now he has nine extra games to prepare for the playoffs.

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As it is, this weekend’s series versus the Mariners is effectively a playoff series. The team that doesn’t win the AL West is likely to qualify for the postseason as a wild card, but that’s not a certainty with the Boston Red Sox one game behind Houston and Seattle in the standings and the Cleveland Guardians 1.5 games back.

Paredes will likely be the designated hitter Friday, and Espada wants him to be careful while running the bases.

“It was a very difficult injury,” Espada said on Wednesday, via MLB.com. “Right now, he is checking all the boxes, and he feels good.

“Are we going to be expecting him to go 100 percent around the bases?” he continued. “No. I’m going to ask him not to. I’m going to ask him to make sure that he can give us the effort he can give us to just stay on the field.”