After being placed on the 15-day injured list June 4 with left elbow discomfort, Blake Taylor's return to the Houston Astros' bullpen didn't seem to be anytime soon following his transfer to the 60-day on July 1.
Taylor started throwing Thursday at the Astros' spring training complex in West Palm Beach, Fla., per Danielle Lerner of the Houston Chronicle. With Parker Mushinski in Triple-A Sugar Land, Houston currently rosters one lefty on staff in Framber Valdez.
Without a lefty out of the bullpen, the Astros have proven to be just fine without a specialist. Ryne Stanek, Héctor Neris and Phil Maton favor lefty batters based on their respective splits.
Taylor threw 16 innings before his injured list placement with a 3.94 ERA and nine strikeouts to 10 walks. The lefty has yet to be optioned in his three-year major league career while a timetabled return has yet to be reported.
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