add a left-handed hitting outfielder<\/a> before the trade deadline, terming it Houston\u2019s \u201cmain need.\u201d Summoning Spence now gives the Astros a chance to gauge what he might be able to offer with over two weeks left until the deadline. Houston extracted the third-worst OPS and lowest on-base percentage in the majors from its outfielders before the All-Star break.<\/p>\nThe Astros got a brief look at Spence this spring in major-league camp, where he was a non-roster invite. He is rated as the No. 12 prospect in the Astros\u2019 system by Baseball America and No. 10 by MLB Pipeline in those outlets\u2019 most recent rankings. At Double-A, Spence said he \u201cgot on the fastball a little bit more\u201d and made an effort to hit to all fields ahead of receiving his promotion to Sugar Land.<\/p>\n
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\u201cI feel prepared, I feel ready to go,\u201d Spence said Friday afternoon. \u201cStick to what I do, try to get on base as much as possible for these guys and play hard.\u201d<\/p>\n
Espada said Spence will be an option at all three outfield spots. Spence has played primarily center field in the majors. Matthews had started five of the Astros\u2019 last six games before the All-Star break in center. Spence\u2019s addition gives them several left-handed hitting outfield options, along with LaMonte Wade Jr., who plays the corners, and Taylor Trammell, an option at all three spots.<\/p>\n
Spence flew to Houston on Thursday, allowing him a full day to prepare for his debut. He said Friday that he wasn\u2019t initially sure what to think when he saw Storey calling him Wednesday.<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t know if he was trying to figure out where I was, \u2019cause I didn\u2019t know if he knew I went home for All-Star break, if that was going to be an issue or something,\u201d Spence said. \u201cThen I thought maybe I got traded with all the moves that were going on. So there was a bunch of things running through my head when his name popped up.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut got good news at the end of the day.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Brice Matthews’ injury<\/p>\n
Matthews injured his knee in Sunday\u2019s series finale against the Rangers when he leapt for a drive at the center-field wall at Globe Life Field. He said Friday he is doing rehab work but unsure about a timeline for recovery.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was something I never felt before,\u201d Matthews said. \u201cI thought (initially) it was going to be a lot longer than they think it is, so that\u2019s a good thing. And I feel really well right now. So I\u2019m very optimistic.\u201d<\/p>\n
Espada also did not provide a timeline for Matthews\u2019 recovery but echoed that \u201cit\u2019s not as severe as it looked that day. I thought it looked ugly, he couldn\u2019t put much weight on it. But hopefully it\u2019s a speedy recovery.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kai-Wei Teng’s return<\/p>\n
Teng was optioned to Triple-A after a start in Detroit on June 27. But the Astros nullified that move and put Teng on the 15-day injured list several days later due to a right knee strain. Teng, who was pitching in the rotation, moved back to a relief role during his rehab process, which included two outings in Florida Complex League games. He was active in the Astros\u2019 bullpen for Friday\u2019s game against the Orioles.<\/p>\n
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Injury updates<\/p>\n
Starter Ronel Blanco and reliever Bennett Sousa, who are both nearing activation from the injured list, were both at Daikin Park for pregame work Friday. Espada said both pitchers may \u201cbe rejoining the team anytime soon, so we\u2019re still deciding what we\u2019re going to do next with those guys.\u201d Blanco is returning from Tommy John surgery. Sousa was placed on the injured list on May 9 due to elbow inflammation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Houston Astros Lucas Spence (89) at Daikin Park in Houston on Monday, March 23, 2026. Elizabeth Conley\/Houston Chronicle…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":377720,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[56,58,57],"class_list":["post-377719","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-houston","tag-houston","tag-houston-headlines","tag-houston-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/377719","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=377719"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/377719\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/377720"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=377719"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=377719"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=377719"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}