Jesse Crain’s last two years have been a bumpy ride. As a reliever with the White Sox, Crain landed on the 60-day disabled list in early July last season with a strained right shoulder. Despite the injury, the Rays decided to gamble and traded for him in late July, hoping he’d be able to make a return and help the team for a playoff push in September. It never materialized.
Crain became a free agent, underwent shoulder surgery in October, and eventually signed with the Astros on a one-year, $3.25 million deal. The Astros were making a similar gamble as the Rays, hopeful that Crain would be healthy enough to contribute at some point during the season.
Crain strained his calf early in spring training, adding insult to literal injury. And now there’s even more. As Jose de Jesus Ortiz of the Houston Chronicle reports, Crain has developed bursitis in his right shoulder. Bursitis is the inflammation of the bursae sacs of synovial fluid. They sit where muscle and tendons slide across the bone, allowing for movement without friction. As a result of the latest developments, GM Jeff Luhnow scrapped Crain’s most recent timetable of early May, and did not offer an updated timetable.
The Astros could have certainly used the help. They enter Friday night’s action with the fourth-worst bullpen ERA in baseball at 5.45, behind only the Tigers, Phillies, and White Sox. In the 36 2/3 innings Crain pitched leading up to his initial injury last season, Crain had a 0.74 ERA along with 46 strikeouts and 10 unintentional walks. The 32-year-old has a career 3.05 ERA over 532 innings.
