
The Astros have been bitten hard by the injury bug. Composite Getty Image.
As Houston Astros fans wait to hear an update about the health of Jose Urquidy and Cristian Javier, we're left wondering why the team is so secretive about their injuries?
It's not as if there's some competitive advantage in withholding the information, like in football or hockey, when players can target the injured area and try to make it worse.
Typically, teams give reporters an update on what part of the body is injured, and/or when they expect them to return. This is certainly not the case with the Astros, you're lucky to hear something like, “arm discomfort.”
In the case of Jose Urquidy, we've seen reports that he's seeking a second opinion and Tommy John Surgery is on the table. But the Astros aren't yet willing to say his season may be over.
With Cristian Javier, we still don't have any concrete information on the injury, and we're approaching almost two weeks with no update.
So why the secrecy? And what will the loss of both Urquidy and Javier mean for the 2024 Astros if they are indeed done for the season?
Editor's note: Cristian Javier and Jose Urquidy will undergo elbow surgery.
RHP Cristian Javier and RHP José Urquidy scheduled to undergo elbow surgery. pic.twitter.com/l2j8NRGYoo
— Houston Astros (@astros) June 5, 2024
Plus, has the pitch clock and the enforcement of the “sticky stuff” caused an uptick in injuries? And if so, will MLB do anything about it?
Don't miss the video above as we break it all down!
Houston advances to Final Four after defensive masterclass against Tennessee
Mar 30, 2025, 4:33 pm
Houston’s relentless defense confused and harassed Tennessee and carried the Cougars into their seventh Final Four and first since 2021, with L.J. Cryer scoring 17 points in a 69-50 victory on Sunday.
Emanuel Sharp scored 14 of his 16 points after halftime for top-seeded Houston (34-4) and was named the region's Most Outstanding Player.
Houston extended the nation's longest active winning streak to 17 games. The Cougars had been eliminated as a No. 1 seed in the Sweet 16 in each of the past two years, but this time coach Kelvin Sampson's team has a shot at the program's first national title.
The Cougars will face Cooper Flagg and five-time national champ Duke on Saturday in San Antonio — just a 3 1/2-hour drive from campus.
The Cougars have reached the national title game twice, losing in 1983 to North Carolina State and in 1984 to Georgetown in the Phi Slama Jama era.
Sharp made four 3-pointers and Joseph Tugler, who made the assist on Friday’s decisive basket against Purdue, had nine rebounds.
Chaz Lanier and Jordan Gainey scored 17 points apiece for the second-seeded Volunteers (30-8), who again fell short of the program's first Final Four appearance. Coach Rick Barnes' team was also eliminated in a regional final last year.
Houston won this one with a familiar formula.
The nation’s stingiest defense held the Vols to 15 first-half points, the fewest in an Elite Eight game since 1979. It also was the lowest first-half scoring total by any No. 1 or No. 2 seed in a March Madness game since seeding began in 1979.
When the Vols had a chance to cut the deficit to single digits in the second half, the nation’s top 3-point shooting team made three straight from beyond the arc to extend the margin to 17.
How bad was it for the Vols?
They made only 6 of 28 shots in the first 20 minutes and missed their first 14 3s before Zakai Ziegler finally ended the drought with 38 seconds left, cutting the deficit to 34-15 — far too big a deficit to come back from. Tourney teams that trailed by 19 or more points at halftime are now 0-244 all-time.
Even in the second half, Tennessee struggled. The defense that outplayed Kentucky so thoroughly in the previous round couldn’t get enough stops and while the offense improved, it wasn't good enough.
Tennessee’s top scorers, Chaz Lanier and Zeigler, were a combined 5 of 27 from the field. Zeigler had five points and five assists.
Points at a premium
Georgetown had the previous lowest-scoring first half in March Madness with 16 points in a second-round victory over SMU in 1984. That Hoyas team went on to win the national title. The paltry first-half total was matched by Miami in a 2013 Sweet 16 loss to Marquette and by Michigan in a 2019 Sweet 16 loss to Texas Tech.