Astros Veteran Reliever Makes Short Injury Rehab Assignment Debut

The Houston Astros pitcher is slowly making his return and has his minor league rehab assignment debut approaching quickly.

Feb 20, 2025; West Palm Beach, FL, USA; Houston Astros pitcher Kaleb Ort (63) poses for a photo at the Houston Astros media day. Mandatory Credit: Reinhold Matay-Imagn Images | Reinhold Matay-Imagn Images

The Houston Astros are in for a challenging season considering the talent they've lost due to trades and injuries.

But that isn't a shock when you look at the big names who are no longer eligible—or worse—who are no longer with the club.

The Astros experienced a brutal loss after star right fielder Kyle Tucker was traded to the Chicago Cubs, not to mention the loss of longtime third baseman Alex Bregman who now plays for the Boston Red Sox.

Despite the season having just begun, the team has already taken a hit to their ego after the most recent MLB.com power rankings were released on Sunday, dropping them from No. 11 down to No. 17.

Houston has gone through some major changes in a short period of time and it's time to get to work.

Currently missing from the Astros right now is right-handed pitcher Kaleb Ort who is out with a left oblique strain. He's been actively working on his recovery, but his return date isn't set yet.

Ort made his rehab assignment debut with Triple-A Sugar Land on Tuesday.

He only recorded one out. He gave up two hits and one run while striking out one hitter. He only faced four batters before he was removed from the game.

Before he makes his return to the Houston, it's likely that he will need to spend several rehab outings with Triple-A Sugar Land to ensure that he makes a full recovery.

Ort played three season with the Red Sox before signing with Houston for the 2024 campaign where he posted a 2.55 ERA and a 0.81 WHIP. He allowed seven home runs within his 24.2 innings.

With his injury, he was absent throughout all of spring training which undoubtedly set him back.

While he works his way back up during his rehab assignment, the hope is that he will be able to bounce back and hit the ground running when he returns to the Astros.

The IL list for Houston is rather lengthy and includes some key players such as starting pitchers Luis Garcia who is recovering from an elbow injury and underwent the dreaded Tommy John surgery.

With such an exhaustive list, Houston needs to step up their game if they're going to see success later this season. Their pitching performance hasn't been anything special thus far, but there's still plenty of time to turn things around.

But before too much time passes, Ort will hopefully make his return with the possibility of boosting the team's performance.