Houston has arguably the best overall pitching staff in the major leagues but has run into a big problem because of injury.

The Astros are struggling to find someone to handle those standout pitchers after losing another catcher in their 5-3 victory over the Texas Rangers on Tuesday.

The Astros will send right-hander Garrit Cole (9-2 Youth Luke Kuechly Jersey , 2.50 ERA) to the mound for the Independence Day, Lone Star State showdown at Globe Life Park in Arlington while the Rangers counter with left-hander Mike Minor (6-4, 4.64).

Houston’s catching situation took a turn for the worst Tuesday when Max Stassi was forced from the game against Texas in the first inning after he was hit on the right wrist by a pitch.

Stassi’s injury comes on the same day veteran catcher Brian McCann met with team medical director Dr. David Lintner ahead of having surgery on his right knee. The Astros placed McCann on the disabled list Tuesday with a sore right knee for the second time this season and recalled catcher Tim Federowicz from Triple-A Fresno.

Federowicz took over for Stassi, who entered Tuesday’s game batting .255 with seven homers and 22 RBIs.

Houston manager A.J. Hinch wouldn’t say what type of surgery McCann would undergo and when the procedure would take place, but admitted that the Astros without McCann, their front-line backstop, “for the foreseeable future.”

“We don’t know other than he’s heading for surgery and we’ll have a better timetable once he sees Dr. Lintner and goes through the medical process,” Hinch told mlb.com. “We had a long conversation in Tampa (over the weekend), and it’s continually the same issue over and over with his right knee. One of the options is surgery, and he went back to Houston to take care of it.”

Texas right-handed reliever Chris Martin was optioned to Triple-A Round Rock on Tuesday prior to the club’s series opener against the Astros. The move made room on the 25-man roster for first baseman Ronald Guzman, who returned from the seven-day concussion disabled list.

Rangers manager Jeff Banister said Martin’s demotion was to create bench depth

“Chris hadn’t done anything to warrant being optioned Womens Joe Flacco Jersey ,” Banister said. “He’s got options. Obviously, he’s pitched well for us in the bullpen. However, you’ve got to be able to protect some of the other players on the team, too.”

Banister told mlb.com that Guzman passed the concussion protocol three days after he was placed on the disabled list. “Ronals was a full-go, as far as baseball activities are concerned,” he said.

The Astros have shuffled their rotation for this week to give Lance McCullers, Jr. and Charlie Morton some additional rest. McCullers was originally scheduled to start Wednesday against the Rangers.

Cole makes his first start in July after going 4-1 with a 3.41 ERA in six June starts, posting a 1.11 WHIP and 42 strikeouts in 37 innings. The Astros are 14-3 in games started by Cole, who is looking to reach double digits in wins.

Minor has been one of the Rangers’ best starters of late. He was 2-0 with a 2.08 ERA in four June starts. Minor is 4-2 with a 3.44 ERA in nine home starts this season.

Minor is 1-2 with a 5.06 ERA in nine games (six starts) versus Houston, including 0-1, 5.74 in three starts this season.

Cole is 3-0 with a 1.33 ERA in four starts against Texas Womens Joey Bosa Jersey , including 2-0, 1.80 in three turns this year.

The NBA leads the way in men’s professional sports when it comes to racial and gender hiring practices, according to a diversity report released Tuesday.

The league earned an A for racial hiring practices and a B for gender hiring practices for an overall grade of an A. That keeps the NBA ”significantly above” other professional sports, according to Richard Lapchick, the report’s author and the director of The Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport.

”The NBA remains the industry leader among men’s sports for racial and gender hiring practices even with the increased grading scales introduced last season,” Lapchick said.

The report states that the NBA league office has the best record for people of color in men’s professional sports at a 36.4 percent (357 of 980) employment rate.

The league, which was first to have three team owners who are people of color, had seven women who served as team presidents/CEOs during the 2017-2018 season – the highest among men’s professional sports.

The report states there are also more NBA general managers and head coaches of color than in the past.

The general managers who are people of color doubled last season from 10 percent (3 of 30) to 20 percent (6 of 30), which puts the NBA well ahead of other men’s sports leagues.

That’s a big positive, Lapchick said.

Nine of 30 NBA head coaches were people of color last season. But following changes at the end of this past season, one-third (10 of 30) of all NBA head coaches are now people of color.

The same trend has trickled down to the assistant coach level Youth Greg Olsen Jersey , where the percentage of people of color increased from 45.4 percent (74 of 163) in 2016-2017 to 45.7 percent (79 of 173) this past season.

Likewise, there was an increase in the percentage of people of color as vice presidents at the team level, increasing to 25.4 percent (148 of 583) this past season, up nearly six percent (86 of 442) from the previous season.

Lapchick also said that in two of the other categories that were reclassified – team management and team professional staff – the percentage of people of color increased significantly from 23.4 percent (174 of 744) to 31.2 percent (771 of 2,469) and from 32.6 percent (976 of 2,997) to 39.5 percent (1,135 of 2,871), respectively.

Lapchick had some concerns when it comes to gender hiring at the team level, a category which dropped for the third straight year.

The percentage of women decreased for team vice presidents and team professional staff. Women who held team vice president positions made up 23.5 percent (137 of 583), a slight decrease from last year’s study. The percentage of women in team professional staff positions decreased by 2.9 percentage points from 40.1 percent (1 Kirk Cousins Jersey Big ,202 of 2,997) in to 37.2 percent (1,068 of 2,871).

”It’s something we are keeping an eye on,” Lapchick said. ”In men’s sports in general gender hiring is a major concern.”

However, Lapchick said the NBA still outpaces other leagues in gender hiring.

Despite those slight drop-offs in gender hiring, Lapchick called Commissioner Adam Silver and the NBA the ”industry leaders” among all men’s professional sports leagues in overall racial and gender hiring practices.

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