The latest injury update could shake up the Astros' postseason roster, but not in a good way

The Houston Astros are returning to the MLB postseason, as is tradition every year. Houston defeated its AL West rival on Tuesday night to claim the division crown for the fourth straight year (and send the Mariners to the trash in the process). Astros manager Joe Espada can now turn his attention to next week's AL Wild Card matchup.

Winning the division and securing a playoff spot was paramount, and now Houston can focus on getting healthy and everyone in H-Town is hoping it's another magical run in October.

Of course, when it comes to the overall health of the team, all eyes will be on Yordan Álvarez. The Astros slugger suffered a concerning injury over the weekend and his status for the remainder of the season and even the postseason is now in question. But there is another Astros player who should return in time for playoffs; However, most Houston supporters would probably prefer if he just sat this one out.

Astros OF Chas McCormick could return for the MLB postseason

Chas McCormick suffered a hand injury a few weeks ago and has been on the IL since 9/11 with a minor fracture. That injury appears to be healing well, and although it was initially reported that he could return this week, it now appears that McCormick will not be participating in the Astros' season-ending road trip to Cleveland. However, the chances of McCormick returning to the Astros in the postseason are still high.

While getting one of your Opening Day starters (and one of the key players from past playoff runs) back into the lineup sounds positive, that may not be the case. Although McCormick had a decent performance in the first week of September, the outfielder's overall numbers were terrible this season.

McCormick is hitting .211/.271/.306 this year. The 29-year-old's .577 OPS is the worst of his career and represents a nearly 300-point drop from his career-high .842 OPS in 2023. It's hard to quantify how bad McCormick has been this season.

The Astros had already sent McCormick to Triple-A Sugar Land at the end of August due to poor performance and simply recalled him a few days later due to an injury. Adding McCormick to the roster for the postseason isn't a smart move, and hopefully it's one that Espada and the Astros front office think long and hard about before actually putting pen to paper.

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