How mounting mistakes make Astros setbacks harder to ignore
NOT AGAIN!
10 July
NOT AGAIN!
Houston center fielder Jake Meyers was removed from Wednesday night’s game against Cleveland during pregame warmups because of right calf tightness.
Meyers, who had missed the last two games with a right calf injury, jogged onto the field before the game but soon summoned the training staff, who joined him on the field to tend to him. He remained on the field on one knee as manager Joe Espada joined the group. After a couple minutes, Meyers got up and was helped off the field and to the tunnel in right field by a trainer.
Mauricio Dubón moved from shortstop to center field and Zack Short entered the game to replace Dubón at shortstop.
Meyers is batting .308 with three homers and 21 RBIs this season.
After the game, Meyers met with the media and spoke about the injury. Meyers declined to answer when asked if the latest injury feels worse than the one he sustained Sunday. Wow, that is not a good sign.
Asked if this calf injury feels worse than the one he sustained on Sunday, Jake Meyers looked toward a team spokesman and asked "do I have to answer that?" He did not and then politely ended the interview.
— Chandler Rome (@Chandler_Rome) July 10, 2025
Lack of imaging strikes again!
The Athletic's Chandler Rome reported on Thursday that the Astros didn't do any imaging on Meyers after the initial injury. You can't make this stuff up. This is exactly the kind of thing that has the Astros return-to-play policy under constant scrutiny.
The All-Star break is right around the corner, why take the risk in playing Meyers after missing just two games with calf discomfort? The guy literally fell to the ground running out to his position before the game started. The people that make these risk vs. reward assessments clearly are making some serious mistakes.
The question remains: will the Astros finally do something about it?
J.J. McCarthy was solid in his brief return for the Vikings, going 4 of 7 for 30 yards while leading a scoring drive in his only series and Minnesota topped the Houston Texans 20-10 on Saturday in the teams’ preseason opener.
McCarthy, who missed all of his rookie season after tearing the meniscus in his right knee in last year’s first preseason game, took the field to a rousing ovation from the home crowd.
The first-round pick in last year’s NFL draft out of Michigan completed his first four passes, three to Jordan Addison, who made a sliding grab for an 18-yard gain on the third. McCarthy also ran 8 yards for a first down on fourth-and-4 at the Texans 43 to keep alive a 58-yard scoring drive capped by Will Reichard’s 48-yard field goal that put the Vikings up 3-0.
“It was great to get things done from an operational standpoint,” McCarthy said. “There’s a lot we can build on off that — a lot more areas we can grow, me specifically, for sure. But I was really happy to string together (a drive) and get some points on the board.”
Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell also felt good about what he saw from his starting quarterback.
“We don’t do a lot of game-planning for these games,” O’Connell said. “But we also want to give our guys a chance to go out there and have success. So there are going to be some plays where guys have to rise up and make some plays above the scheme, and he did that a couple of times with his legs.
“It didn’t really feel like he put the ball at harm’s risk very much in that sequence of plays.”
The Texans responded on their own opening possession. Davis Mills, who got the start at quarterback after head coach DeMeco Ryans elected to sit starter C.J. Stroud, marched his team 74 yards in 10 plays to score on a 14-yard touchdown pass to Braxton Berrios that put his team in front 7-3.
“I was really pleased with our first offensive group,” Ryans said. “The way they stepped out very efficiently. I liked everybody just being very calm and composed. Davis did an excellent job of driving the ball down the field, commanding the huddle, putting the ball in really good placement.”
McCarthy, meanwhile, was replaced by backup Sam Howell before the Vikings’ second possession. Howell played the rest of the first half, finishing 11 of 13 for 105 yards. He led Minnesota to a pair of scores: a 38-yard field goal by Reichard and his own 1-yard touchdown run that gave the Vikings a 13-7 halftime lead.
Not all went the Vikings way, however. Wide receiver Rondale Moore, signed this offseason, was carted from the field after suffering what O’Connell said appears to be a serious left knee injury on a punt return early in the second quarter. He’ll have an MRI on Sunday.
Moore, who missed the entire 2024 season while with Atlanta after injuring a knee in the preseason, was expected to add receiving depth for Minnesota. The Vikings will be without Addison for the first three games of the regular season after he was suspended for violating the NFL’s substance abuse policy.
“It’s heartbreaking,” O’Connell said of Moore’s injury. “I think anybody in the ballpark (today) could feel the emotion. It’s one of the most painful things for me as a head coach. I make a life out of trying to leave others better than I found them, and in that particular situation, there’s really nothing you can do.”
Houston’s final two drives ended in interceptions of rookie Max Brosmer by Kahlef Hailassie, sealing a win for the Vikings in McCarthy’s first game in almost exactly a year.
“It felt amazing being back out there,” said McCarthy, whose team has a pair of joint practices with the New England Patriots scheduled for this coming week. “Just really playing football again and being out there with the guys. There’s nothing like it. I loved the way we played as a group collectively.”
Among the several Vikings veterans who didn’t play were wide receiver Justin Jefferson, who’s still recovering from a mild left hamstring strain he suffered late last month, and offensive tackle Christian Darrisaw, who continues to work his way back from a season-ending knee injury a year ago.
Houston running back Nick Chubb, who signed with the team in the offseason, didn’t play. He missed practice time during the week after taking a shot to the head.
O’Connell said the Vikings also lost rookie center Zeke Correll to what X-rays showed was a right ankle fracture in the second half.
Texans: Host the Carolina Panthers next Saturday.
Vikings: Host the Patriots next Saturday.