Hayden Wesneski Starts Same Astros Rehab Path Set by Ronel Blanco

When the Houston Astros started Ronel Blanco on his injury rehab stretch, they sent him to Florida. Turns out they did the same for Hayden Wesneski.

The starting pitcher, one of a few Astros have been rehabbing elbow injuries in the background of this season, threw a rehab game in the Florida State League on Tuesday and he threw well. He went three innings, giving up one hit and striking out one. The MiLB box score didn’t keep a pitch count, but he faced 10 hitters.

This should be the first of several starts for the right-hander as he works to come back from Tommy John surgery.

Hayden Wesneski’s Path Back

Houston Astros starting pitcher Hayden Wesneski throws a baseball. — Houston Astros starting pitcher Hayden Wesneski. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Wesneski is a couple of weeks behind Blanco, who suffered the same injury and had a similar reconstructive surgery on his UCL. He’s made two starts so far, the first of which was in the FSL on June 19, where he pitched three innings. He followed that up with a start at Double-A Corpus Christi on June 25 as he threw 3.1 innings. In two starts he has thrown 6.1 innings and allowed three hits, three walks and seven strikeouts. He hasn’t given up a run.

His next rehab game should be coming up later this week, if the Astros are keeping him to one start per week.

Wesneski should follow the same path. If he does, his next rehab start should come early next week at a higher affiliate, perhaps Double-A Corpus Christi. The Hooks are home on July 7 against Frisco, the Texas Rangers’ Double-A affiliate.

The Astros will likely try to build Wesneski up like Blanco, having him as close to 75 pitches as possible before a potential activation. The return of Hunter Brown and the impending return of Cristian Javier means the Astros can give both plenty of runway to make a return sometime after the All-Star break.

The Astros acquired Wesneski as part of the Kyle Tucker trade last year. Houston also received Cam Smith and Isaac Paredes from the Chicago Cubs, which means he’s the player the Astros have received the least return from.

He started six games for the Astros last season and went 1-3 with a 4.50 ERA with 29 strikeouts and six walks in 32 innings.

Before that, he spent three seasons with the Cubs in the Majors, mostly in relief. He went 9-13 with a 3.93 ERA in 68 games with 22 starts, as he struck out 183 and walked 60 in 190 innings.

Add us as a preferred source on Google