Sixteen players on the injured list. A 9-16 record. A rotation ERA that is the worst in baseball. The Houston Astros are a MASH unit that also plays baseball right now, and somehow it's still a compelling watch.

This week: Spencer Arrigetti quietly becomes the most trustworthy arm in the rotation, Jose Altuve plays his 2000th career game and goes 0-for-5 in the same night, and the Yankees are coming to Daikin Park this weekend.

On the farm, Sugarland recorded three walk-off wins in one series and a 28-year-old Australian signed Saturday morning and threw five shutout innings the same afternoon. The Corpus Christi Hooks went 5-1 with two grand slams in the same game. And Ethan Peco struck out eight batters in three rehab innings at Fayetteville.

Prospect Spotlight: Caesar Hernandez — the 22-year-old Cuban outfielder hitting .452 at High-A Asheville with zero strikeouts through nine games.

The Astros Universe covers the full Houston Astros organization every Wednesday — Single-A to the Show. Follow us on X: @AstrosUniverse

This week the Astros Universe starts where it has to — with Phil Garner. Scrap Iron passed away Saturday at 76 after more than two years fighting pancreatic cancer. The man who managed Houston to its first World Series in 2005 deserved the first few minutes of this show.

Then the baseball happened. A 1-9 road trip. An eight game losing streak — the longest since 2013. Hunter Brown, Tatsuya Imai, and Jeremy Peña all on the IL simultaneously. Colton Gordon making his MLB debut in the middle of a rotation fire drill.

There was good news. Josh Hader threw live batting practice Tuesday. Sugarland recorded three walk-off wins in a single series. And down in Fayetteville, Xavier Neyens hit his first professional home run at 116 miles per hour — a ball hit so hard it would rank among the hardest contact in Astros MLB history.

Prospect Spotlight: Xavier Neyens — the 19-year-old first round pick with 70-grade power and a swing that just announced itself to the entire organization.

The Astros Universe covers the full Houston Astros organization every Wednesday — Single-A to the Show. Follow us on X: @AstrosUniverse

Hunter Brown is on the IL with a grade two shoulder strain. The ace is out for weeks, potentially months. That's the gut punch that opened this week.

Then Tatsuya Imai went out to West Sacramento, made one mechanical fix, and threw five and two thirds innings of shutout ball with nine strikeouts to earn his first career MLB win. One ace out. One ace in.

Also this week: the Astros go 1-4 but lead the American League in runs scored, Isaac Paredes keeps driving in winning runs despite the front office trying to trade him all offseason, and all four minor league affiliates play their first games within 48 hours of each other.

Prospect Spotlight: Kevin Alvarez — the 18-year-old Cuban-born number one prospect in the system who delivered a walk-off double in his second professional game at Fayetteville.

The Astros Universe covers the full Houston Astros organization every Wednesday — Single-A to the Show. Follow us on X: @AstrosUniverse