Astros place Francisco Cordero on DL

Former Astros closer Francisco Cordero has been placed on the 15-day disabled list with toe inflammation.

By C. Trent Rosecrans

Aug 3, 2012 at 6:49 pm ET • 1 min read

Francisco Cordero has a 19.80 ERA since coming to the Astros. (Getty Images)

Bad news for the Braves, Nationals, Brewers and Cubs -- the Astros have placed reliever Francisco Cordero on the 15-day disabled list, so those teams will miss the chance to bat against Houston's former closer.

Cordero, 37, was placed on the 15-day disabled list retroactive to Thursday with toe inflammation. Acquired in the 10-man deal between the Blue Jays and Astros on July 20, Cordero appeared in six games for the Astros, where he's been worse than he was with the Blue Jays, being named the team's closer and then replaced before ever recording a save for the team.

In all, Cordero's appeared in 47 games for the Blue Jays and Astros, picking up two saves and recording a 7.55 ERA. He had a 5.77 ERA in 41 games with the Blue Jays before being traded.

Since returning to the National League Central, where he had 210 saves as a member of the Reds and Brewers, Cordero has imploded. In just five innings for Houston, he's allowed 11 runs (all earned) on 13 hits with four walks (good for a 3.4 WHIP), while striking out five.

The Astros have only won one of the six games in which Cordero has appeared, July 29 against Pittsburgh. He's blown leads in three of his six appearances with the team and given up runs in four of his appearances in a Houston uniform.

In those five games for the Astros, opponents were hitting .481/.563/.852 against him with a .550 average on balls in play.

Astros manager Brad Mills had turned over the closer role to Wilton Lopez earlier this week. The 29-year-old right-hander has a 2.52 ERA in 40 appearances for the Astros this season.

Cordero served as the Reds' closer for the last four seasons, earning 150 saves in Cincinnati. However, he was offered only a one-year contract by the Reds after he became a free agent, but he turned it down. After the Reds signed Ryan Madson, Cordero settled for a one-year, $4.5 million deal to serve as a set-up man for the Blue Jays. Although Madson was injured in the spring and hasn't played for the Reds, the team's bullpen has turned out OK with Aroldis Chapman developing into a dominating closer.