It’s no secret that the one trend that has haunted the Houston Astros over the last few seasons has been the injury bug, particularly in its pitching staff. Seeing multiple pitchers needing Tommy John surgery and falling by the wayside each season, since 2023, has become a ritual with this team.
The one thing about sustaining a lot of injuries is that eventually you have a lot of guys coming back from injuries. At various times over the last few seasons, the Astros’ fan base would allow itself to get tantalized by a potential plethora of options in the starting rotation and bullpen. Of course, all you have to do is go back and look at how the last couple seasons ended to know whether or not said plethora of pitching riches came to fruition.
So, now here we are in 2026, and the same thing is happening. The Astros just got their ace, Hunter Brown, back a week or so ago, and while the results have been mixed in his return, it certainly feels nice to have him back. The construct of the pitching staff, though, gets very intriguing over the next week or so.
Here is the current makeup, as of Tuesday (players in bold have no minor league options left):
- CURRENT STARTERS (6): Hunter Brown, Spencer Arrighetti, Tatsuya Imai, Peter Lambert, Kai-Wei Teng, Mike Burrows
- CURRENT RELIEVERS (7): Josh Hader, Steven Okert, Bryan King, Logan VanWey, Enyel De Los Santos, Nate Pearson, A.J. Blubaugh
It should be noted that Bryan Abreu would be on the above list, but he was placed on the Restricted List for “personal reasons,” and replaced by VanWey.
Now, here is where it gets interesting. Here is the current status of the Astros pitchers that are coming back from the Injured List in the near future:
- Cristian Javier, completed his final rehab start on Sunday 6/21
- Ronel Blanco, rehab start upcoming at AA Corpus on Thursday 6/25
- Lance McCullers, rehab start upcoming at AAA Sugar Land on Thursday 6/25
- Hayden Wesnesky, threw live BP in Florida on Saturday 6/20
That’s four starting pitchers, three of whom that could return before the end of the month. With a Major League pitching staff built out for 13 spots, there are going to be some interesting decisions coming up. How will this work? Just a few guesses here:
Cristian Javier and Lance McCullers will get opportunities because of their salaries, but Blanco is the most intriguing returnee
Javier is making $21 million this season, and McCullers is making $17 million. Neither has pitched well at all, when healthy. However, it’s impractical to think that the Astros would just cut either of them without seeing if there is anything still “in there.” I would guess one or both will get a start or two when they come back. Honestly, though, Blanco is the only one out of the three pitchers making rehab starts this week that’s pitched well over a sustained stretch in the last two seasons, having won 13 games in 2024.
Mike Burrows needs to step his game up, and Kai-Wei Teng could slide back to the bullpen
While Imai’s overall numbers (6.15 ERA) are not great, he’s been largely better since returning from the IL, and, like Javier and McCullers, he makes a lot of money ($18 million). In other words, he will remain in the rotation. Burrows has pitched poorly, leads the league in home runs allowed, and has minor league options remaining. His spot is in real jeopardy. He starts tonight against the Blue Jays. He needs a quality start just to tread water. One of the other options to open up a spot in the rotation would be moving Teng back to the bullpen, where he was thriving early in the season, before injuries forced the team to stretch him out and become a starter.
Nate Pearson will not survive the influx of arms
Eventually, you can shuffle guys between the rotation and the bullpen to maneuver and open up spots all you want, but someone’s gotta go. If I had to guess, Pearson will be the odd man out. King and Blubaugh have minor league options, but both have been more than serviceable. Designating Pearson for assignment, and hoping he clears waivers (after which, he could be re-signed and sent to Sugar Land) feels like the logical decision.
