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BOSTON, MA – MAY 16: Jake Odorizzi #17 of the Houston Astros reacts after an injury during the fifth inning of a game against the Boston Red Sox on May 16, 2022 at Fenway Park in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Billie Weiss/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images)
Houston Astros starting pitcher Jake Odorizzi carted off field after scary knee injury.
Jake Odorizzi, 32, surrendered a groundball out to Red Sox utilityman Enrique Hernandez and upon his leaving the mound, he quickly fell to the ground in a world of hurt. The television announcers had initially said that this was a hamstring injury.
The injury looked eerily similar to Mike Soroka’s torn Achilles’ tendon in August of 2020. Soroka, of course, has not thrown a pitch in a big-league game since that injury. In his case specifically, he did re-tear the Achilles’ tendon while in the process of recovering, so if Odorizzi does indeed have the same injury, he may not miss as much time.
Odorizzi signed a two-year, $23.5MM contract with the Astros back in March of 2021 and looked solid in 24 games for the club last season, finishing the year with a 6-7 record and a 4.21 ERA with 91 strikeouts and 34 walks in 104+ innings.
To begin 2022, the 2019 American League All-Star has made seven starts in what could very well be his last as an Astro. Odorizzi looked a lot like his 2019-self before tonight, pitching to a 3-2 record with a 3.13 ERA, 21 strikeouts and 12 free-passes in 31+ innings. He had only allowed a single home run to start the year as well, a welcome statistic after he had a tough time limiting the longball over the course of the past few seasons.
In what will undoubtedly be a lengthy absence, the Astros will likely abandon the six-man rotation they have been working with as of late and will utilize the traditional five-man starting rotation with Justin Verlander, Jose Urquidy, Luis Garcia, Framber Valdez and Cristian Javier making up the staff.