The Houston Astros expect shortstop Carlos Correa to be ready to return to the lineup on Tuesday, manager A.J. Hinch said Sunday.
Correa was out of the lineup for the fourth straight game Sunday with soreness in his right side, but Hinch said the Astros are just being "ultra conservative" with the 23-year-old All-Star, who is in his fourth season.
"He's very much ready to play. I think he wants to play. He wants to test it out," he said.
Correa swung in the batting cage on Saturday and was scheduled to take fielding practice Sunday. Houston is off Monday and returns to action Tuesday when it visits the Oakland Athletics.
"With the day off tomorrow, the smartest thing for us to do is give him today, give him tomorrow and Tuesday he'll be more than ready to come back and assume his everyday role," Hinch said.
Correa felt what he called "right side discomfort" in his last at-bat vs. the Mariners on Wednesday. He was re-evaluated Thursday, and the MRI came back clean, according to the shortstop.
The Astros have won their past three games against the Texas Rangers with Correa out of the lineup.
He is batting .264 with 10 home runs and 39 RBIs this season.
The Astros also placed right-handed reliever Joe Smith on the 10-day disabled list Sunday with right elbow soreness with the move retroactive to Thursday. Hinch said the Astros were sending Smith back to Houston to get evaluated. Left-hander Reymin Guduan was recalled from Triple-A Fresno in a corresponding move.