HOUSTON — The Houston Astros left veteran relievers Will Smith and Phil Maton off their roster for the AL Division Series against the Seattle Mariners.
According to Maton, he broke his finger when he punched his locker after his last regular-season outing against the Phillies. The 29-year-old gave up two hits, including a single to younger brother Nick, and two runs while recording one out in the eighth inning of Houston's 3-2 win over Philadelphia last Wednesday.
"I was upset at how my outing went. It was kind of a short-sighted move and ultimately it was selfish and I hope it doesn't affect our team moving forward," Maton said Tuesday.
He had surgery on a broken finger on Monday.
“Phil’s had an up and down year,” General Manager James Click said. “We were having active discussions when we found out about the injury. So I don’t think I have a yes or no answer to that question.”
Smith, who was acquired from the Braves at the trade deadline, had a 3.27 ERA in 24 appearances for Houston this season. Maton had a 3.84 ERA in 67 games this season.
Instead of those veterans, the Astros put rookie right-hander Hunter Brown on a roster with 12 pitchers and carried an extra position player in rookie infielder David Hensley.
The rest of Houston's pitching roster is: Justin Verlander, Framber Valdez, Lance McCullers Jr., Luis Garcia, Jose Urquidy, Cristian Javier, Ryne Stanek, Ryan Pressly, Bryan Abreu and Rafael Montero and Hector Neris.
Verlander, the AL Cy Young favorite, is the Game 1 starter. Dusty Baker announced Tuesday that Valdez will take the mound in Game 2 and McCullers Jr. will start Game 3.
Brown, Hensley, Montero and Neris are making their playoff debuts as are Houston rookie shortstop Jeremy Pena and utility player Trey Mancini, a six-year veteran acquired this summer after spending his entire career Baltimore, and infielder Mauricio Dubon.
Houston will carry two catchers, eight infielders and four outfielders in this series.
The Mariners went with the same roster they did for the wild-card series. They will carry 12 pitchers, three catchers, five infielders, four outfielders and utility players Adam Frazier and Dylan Moore.
Their pitching staff for this series includes Logan Gilbert, Luis Castillo, Diego Castillo, Matthew Boyd, Matt Festa, Matt Brash, George Kirby, Andres Munoz, Penn Murfee, Robbie Ray, Paul Sewald and Erik Swanson.
