Overview

• Left-hander Brandon Walter was placed on the 15-day injured list effective July 24 due to left elbow inflammation, boosting Houston’s injured list to a major-league high 18 players, eight of them starters.
• Jason Alexander and rookie Ryan Gusto were called up from Triple-A to provide spot-start options in the rotation, and reliever Nick Hernandez was recalled to fill Walter’s active-roster spot.
• Cristian Javier, Spencer Arrighetti, Luis Garcia and J.P. France are on rehab assignments at Triple-A Sugar Land and Double-A Corpus Christi with targeted second-half returns.
• Lance McCullers Jr. was placed on the 15-day injured list Tuesday with a finger blister, compounding the club’s pitching shortages.
• General manager Dana Brown is weighing veteran arms at the trade deadline to shore up a rotation ravaged by consecutive injuries.