With Carlos Correa adding to Astros' pile of injuries, could this season already be a lost cause?

Closer Josh Hader had a season-ending shoulder injury in August. Ronel Blanco and Spencer Arrighetti, who combined to make 57 starts in 2024, made just 18 in 2025, with Blanco undergoing season-ending elbow surgery in May. Cristian Javier, another rotation mainstay, only made eight starts down the stretch after returning from his own elbow procedure.

It’s reasonable to suggest that that unrelenting rash of ailments cost Houston a trip to the postseason, marking its first October miss since 2016. The Astros still managed to finish with the same record (87-75) as the wild-card bound Detroit Tigers, but lost out on a playoff spot due to a tiebreaker. Had even one or two of their key players remained available, it’s hard to imagine their impressive streak of playing October baseball would have been snapped.

But it wasn’t to be, sending Houston into its longest offseason in years. Entering 2026, it was natural for the Astros to lean on the hopeful sentiment that they couldn’t possibly be so injury-ravaged for a second consecutive year, and that they still had enough high-end talent to return to October. Yet here we are, barely into May, and Houston finds itself dealing with a new wave of injuries threatening to derail another season.

Its latest gut punch: infielder Carlos Correa, done for the year after suffering a left ankle injury during batting practice that will require season-ending surgery. Despite a notoriously checkered history of durability of his own — including a surgically repaired right ankle that caused agreements with both the Mets and Giants to fall through in free agency — Correa had been dependable since returning to Houston last summer via a shocking deadline swap with Minnesota. Correa started 51 of the Astros’ final 53 games last season, and 32 of the first 36 games this year in the Houston infield, making his first appearances at third base while also covering at his native shortstop while starter Jeremy Peña dealt with his own injuries.