Houston's Deadline Center Fielder Watched the Sweep After Wrist Surgery

The Astros traded for Daulton Varsho at the deadline with October in mind. He didn't play a postseason inning for them.

Houston said before Game 2 of its Wild Card Series that Varsho had arthroscopic surgery on his left wrist on Tuesday. The wrist had been getting worse down the stretch, and he was already left off the roster for the series against the White Sox. By Wednesday night it didn't matter: Chicago won 7-3 and swept the Astros out.

Center field turned into a problem. Brice Matthews was the first replacement and also ended up on the injured list, so Lucas Spence started both games.

What Houston was hoping for

Varsho, 30, never hit for the Astros: .172 with five home runs in 41 games after coming over from Toronto. He was brought in for his Gold Glove-level defense and for experience. He was a regular on the Blue Jays team that finished one win short of the World Series last year.

He has one more year of arbitration eligibility, so Houston can bring him back for 2027 if the wrist heals and it wants to. That decision now goes into a winter that started much earlier than the AL West champions expected.