Astros Activate Both George Springer and Collin McHugh From Injured List

Boston Red Sox v Houston Astros
Boston Red Sox v Houston Astros / Bob Levey/GettyImages

The Astros are finally getting their star players back from injury, and not a moment too soon.

With the team struggling, Astros outfielder George Springer and pitcher Collin McHugh have both been activated from the IL.

Houston has endured a rough stretch of baseball in recent weeks, dropping seven of their last eight games. Their division lead has shrunk from from 10 games to 6.5 games since June 7.

It certainly didn't help that Springer and McHugh both went down with injuries in May.

Springer was in MVP form prior to the hamstring strain that took him out of the lineup for a full month. Through his first 48 games, he was slashing .308/.389/.643 with 17 home runs and 43 runs batted in.

Losing his bat for an extended period of time truly put Houston's offensive depth to the test. He showed no signs of rust while on his rehab assignment, though, posting a 1.571 OPS in three games in Double-A.

McHugh, though valuable, struggled prior to being sidelined by the discomfort he experienced in his elbow. He posted a 6.04 ERA in 44.2 innings of work.

The long ball really hurt him early in the season. He allowed nine home runs in his 10 appearances through May 14, two more than he allowed in 58 outings in 2018.

Hopefully the stint on the Injured List has given him time to recover and sort things out. The Astros will need both him and Springer to be at full throttle if they want to get things back on track.