Bennett Sousa Injury: Will open season on IL

Manager Joe Espada announced Thursday that Sousa will begin the regular season on the 15-day injured list due to a left oblique injury, Matt Kawahara of the Houston Chronicle reports.

Sousa injured his oblique during his last Grapefruit League appearance on a fielding play. It's another blow to the Houston bullpen, as Sousa will join closer Josh Hader (biceps) on the injured list to open the season. The 30-year-old Sousa pitched in 44 games out of the Astros bullpen last regular season, logging a 2.84 ERA, 1.03 WHIP and 59:15 K:BB across 50.2 innings.