Keuchel shut down due to shoulder inflammation

Houston Astros left-hander Dallas Keuchel has been scratched from Tuesday's scheduled start against the Cleveland Indians and shut down from throwing due to inflammation in his shoulder, manager A.J. Hinch announced Monday.

Keuchel - who was initially scheduled to pitch Friday before getting his start pushed to Tuesday due to fatigue - has headed back to Houston to be evaluated, and it remains unclear how long he'll be sidelined.

"It's unfortunate that we're losing him at this critical juncture of the season," general manager Jeff Luhnow said, according to Mark Berman of FOX 26. "We don't know how long he'll be out. I assume he'll make a full recovery relatively soon and we'll get him back, but Dallas' health is first and foremost. We want to make sure that he's healthy."

Luhnow added he doesn't know if Keuchel will be available should the Astros, who are currently 2 1/2 games shy of the second American League wild-card spot, make it to the postseason.

"I don't know the answer to that," Luhnow said. "I don't think anybody really knows the answer to that. All we know is right now he's not making his two starts that he was planning to make this week and this weekend. Beyond that we're going to take it day by day as we get more information. We'll see what the doctors say and what plan we come up with."

Though Keuchel showed signs of improvement in August, the reigning AL Cy Young award winner had authored a pretty unimpressive season before hurting his shoulder, stumbling to a 4.55 ERA with a 1.29 WHIP over 26 starts amid a minor drop-off in velocity. Keuchel fashioned a 2.48 ERA with a 4.24 strikeout-to-walk ratio over a league-high 232 innings last year, after breaking out the season prior.