The Astros placed catcher Humberto Quintero on the DL with a sprained right ankle after a collision with Ryan Roberts at home plate left him unable to put much weight on his foot. With the loss of Quintero, the Astros now have three injured catchers in their upper levels between Quintero, Jason Castro, and Carlos Corporan. Per Alyson Footer, Quintero says he’ll be back in two weeks.
To fill the backup catcher role, the Astros purchased the contract of journeyman catcher Robinson Cancel from Oklahoma City. Cancel will play in his third different decade, as he first came up with the 1999 Red Sox and later resurfaced with the 2008 Mets. Cancel is a career .273/.325/.393 hitter at the AAA level in 1132 plate appearances. He has a .333/.389/.444 line for the RedHawks so far this year.
The Astros’ purchase of Cancel means that Houston now has a full 40-man roster. They were at 38 before claiming Blake King on Thursday. J.R. Towles will likely see the bulk of the catching time in Quintero’s absence.