The Houston Astros have gotten a convincing AL West lead after the Seattle Mariners went on a tear and were knocking on the door. Heading into Wednesday, the Astros have a three-game lead in the division.
There's still plenty of work to do with 23 games left before Houston looks to take on the October baseball. The Astros will have to be better this month after going 13-15 in August, or else they could lose their division lead and have to play for a Wild Card spot.
Heading into Houston's matchup against the New York Yankees, the team got a convincing update on third baseman Isaac Paredes.
Isaac Paredes begins on-field work while rehabbing from severe hamstring strain
Paredes, 26, has been out since severely straining his right hamstring on July 19 against the Seattle Mariners. The Astros placed the young All-Star on the 60-day injured list on Aug. 6.
Just under a month removed from his injured list designation, Astros insider Chandler Rome dropped a convincing update on Paredes before Houston began their Wednesday night game against the Yankees.
"Isaac Paredes just finished doing some running in right field and is now taking ground balls at Daikin Park. Paredes had follow-up imaging on his hamstring yesterday that, obviously, was favorable," Rome posted to X.
The Astros are just under the .500 mark in games since Paredes left the lineup. A lot has taken place since then as well, as Houston brought in a haul at the trade deadline. Including Ramon Urias, Jesus Sanchez, and Carlos Correa.
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If Parades can return at some point this season, his consistent bat and lockdown defense at third base would be beneficial for the Astros. In 94 games before going down with the hamstring strain, Paredes had a .259 batting average, .359 on-base percentage, .470 slugging percentage, .829 OPS, and 2.5 WAR while hitting 19 home runs and 50 RBI.