“Dear Mother and Father,

I am still in the land of the living…”

Written by a Civil War soldier over a century-and-a-half ago, the above salutation could have been written by any one of the few Houston Astros players still standing and wearing battle fatigues.

As May withers away and June beckons with a trip west to hold down their sizable American League West Division lead, the Astros are a shadow of their former selves, with the E-Train promising reinforcements.

Beset with over half-a-dozen injuries, the Astros’ long-touted depth will be challenged in the coming weeks, as will their current hold on the division lead.

This recent rash of players being rushed to the medical tent will, by necessity, press into service an almost equal amount of rookies and returnees who have been plying their wares for the team’s AAA Round Rock Express of the Pacific Coast League.

Who Be IL-in’?

Missing in action, currently, are pitcher Collin McHugh and position players George Springer, Jose Altuve, Max Stassi, and Aledmys Diaz. The most recent addition to the injury list is Carlos Correa, who suffered a non-barbecue-related rib fracture at his home earlier in the week. A home massage is being blamed (and not fiancée, Daniella), and word is that the massage was administered by a non-Astro medical employee.

Doing yeoman’s work in disguising his disgust, Houston GM Jeff Luhnow had this to say about his team’s latest fallen soldier: “Players do a lot of things outside of the field that we’re never aware of or not aware of.

“Everybody’s trying to get better in their own way, and I’m sure he was receiving treatment for specific reasons. It’s unfortunate that it happened that way, but we’re concerned right now mostly about getting him back. He’s going to have to rest for a little bit, let the bones heal and get back to doing the physical activity that will help him be back on the field.”

Speaking of heavy lifting, AstrosCounty did the ciphering that represents the extent of the firepower lost due to the injured (FanGraphs WAR tallies in parentheses):

Carlos Correa: (1.8 fWAR)

George Springer: (2.7 fWAR)

Jose Altuve: (0.7 fWAR)

Aledmys Diaz: (0.5 fWAR)

Collin McHugh: (0.2 fWAR)

“That’s 5.7 fWAR from the offense currently on the IL,” AstrosCounty asserts, still calculating. “The offense has put up 14.2 fWAR, so 40.1% of the offense’s fWAR is injured, with no serious chance of coming back in the next couple of weeks, save for Diaz. Also, that 5.7 fWAR on the IL is more than the fWAR of 13 MLB teams.”

The May Days in May started on the 12th, with Altuve’s right leg soreness sidelining him. The 21st saw McHugh fall to right elbow soreness, followed by Springer and a left hamstring strain four days later. The next day, Stassi’s left knee inflammation forced him onto the IL, with Diaz following right behind him on the 27th with his own left hammy strain.

Also, just in is the news of top Astro farmhand, Round Rock pitcher Forrest Whitley, being placed on the minor league seven-day IL with shoulder fatigue. He’ll rehab at the Astros’ West Palm Beach, Florida Spring Training facility.

Forced Into Action

With all these Astros on the shelf, the Round Rock Express has been all but gutted, proving the value of the Houston paradigm of nurturing ocean-like depth throughout the system.

Even if it means several players, like the eternally patient 28-year-old Jack Mayfield (whose May field debut was on the 27th), had to endure Triple-A road trips for more than three years prior to a promotion to The Show. Regardless of how the Astros’ 2019 season shakes out, his will be in the running for the feel-good story of the year.

Related: Curse of the Champions: Jack Mayfield Stuck in AAA

Joining infielder Mayfield for ‘Stros debuts from the Round Rock Express are catcher Garrett Stubbs and pitcher Corbin Martin. Also filling in for injured Astros are roster returnees Myles Straw (shortstop and CF), outfielder Derek Fisher, and pitcher Brady Rodgers.

The Athletic‘s Jake Kaplan put Houston’s recent spate of injuries into perspective, leaving fans with more of a smile than a frown: “It’s a testament to the Astros’ depth and the lack of a fellow contender in their division that they should be fine even without [legitimate 2019 MVP contenders] Altuve, Springer and Correa until at least the middle of June. They came into Wednesday night’s [May 29] series finale against the Cubs with a 7.5-game cushion in the AL West.

“[The Astros’] upcoming schedule is also relatively light. After Wednesday, only nine of the 33 games they play before the All-Star break come against teams now above .500. They have seven games against the last-place Mariners in June, a month in which they also play the Orioles, Reds, Blue Jays and Pirates.”

Riding Off Into the West

With the injured Astros all coming off the IL at various times in the next few weeks, help is coming in the form of a posse of talented youngsters from the west, and the Austin outpost of Round Rock.

Leading the way will be the long-promised hero on the charging white steed, no doubt coming to help save the day sometime in June: Yordan Alvarez.

Here comes the cavalry.