Astros News: Injury updates, A.J. Reed receives the Dick Howser Award

Altuve still day-to-day after hit by pitch

The Astros lineup card was without Jose Altuve for the second straight day Saturday, after he was hit with a pitch in the hand Thursday. Altuve took fielding practice before the game Saturday and was still feeling soreness in the injured hand. MLB.com's Richard Dean spoke with Astros manager Bo Porter about Altuve -

"You want your guys to want to play. It's good to see how quickly he's recovering, but at the same time we have to make sure it's not going to have any lingering effect -- that he'll be able to play the way he's capable of playing."

Josh Fields' status unknown after right forearm strain

Josh Fields was pulled from the game Saturday before he faced a batter in the ninth inning. Fields had retired one batter in the eight and was warming up for the ninth when he felt some discomfort. MLB.com's Richard Dean had a quote from Bo Porter on Fields -

"He felt it on the second warmup pitch and felt some discomfort," said Astros manager Bo Porter. "So at that point there's no sense in trying to work through it right there. We allowed the trainers and doctors to take a look at him."

Astros' second round pick named Dick Howser Award winner

The National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association named Kentucky pitcher and first baseman A.J. Reed as the 2014 winner of the Dick Howser Award. The honor is given to "the player who best represents courage, character, leadership and performance." The Astros' second-round draft posted a 12-2 record and 2.09 ERA as a pitcher, with the bat he had 23 home runs, a .735 slugging percentage, a 1.211 OPS, and 73 RBIs in his junior season. Here is Reed in his own words after receiving the award -

The Astros have named Reed the starting first baseman for Houston's short season Class-A team, the Tri-City ValleyCats. The ValleyCats play their third game this season Sunday.