Astros Ace Can’t Carry Rotation Alone as Starters Must Step Up

Perhaps the most famous poetic verse associated with modern baseball is "Spahn and Sain, and pray for rain", a humorous reference to the 1940's Boston Braves' reliance on and lack of support for star pitchers Warren Spahn and Johnny Sain.

If the Houston Astros' opening weekend inspired a similarly themed poem, it might be something to the effect of "Hunter Brown, then things start to come down".

Brown kicked off the 2026 campaign as his typically dominant self, scattering four hits and striking out nine over 4.2 scoreless innings. Astros manager Joe Espada would surely have loved to see the reigning AL Cy Young finalist go deeper into the game, but his four walks allowed contributed to a pitch count of 102 and forced an early exit to what would ultimately be a 3-0 loss to the Los Angeles Angels.

Astros' Rotation Has Shaky Opening Weekend

Houston Astros starter Mike Burrows reacts after a pitch in his outing against the Los Angeles Angels at Daikin Park. — New Houston Astros starting pitcher Mike Burrows struggled in his first start with the organization. | Troy Taormina-Imagn Images

From a pitching standpoint, that's about as good as things got for Houston.

On Friday, new offseason acquisition Mike Burrows took to the mound, getting roughed up to the tune of five earned runs and nine hits over 5.2 innings pitched. He failed to get the first batter out in any of his first five innings of work, leaving him scrambling and uncomfortable for much of his debut outing along the way to a 6-2 loss.

The following day, Cristian Javier found himself burned by control issues (four walks and two HBP's) and the long ball (two home runs allowed) as he allowed six earned runs on four hits over 4.2 innings of work.

Finally, on Sunday, new Houston signee Tatsuya Imai admitted to feeling some nerves as he lasted just 2.2 innings while surrendering four earned runs on three hits thanks, in part, to four walks allowed.

The saving grace amidst the Astros' bumpy opening weekend was the fact that the club's strong offensive attack overcame some weak pitching to help them outlast the Angels on Saturday and Sunday to earn a series split.

Still, this was not the start that the organization was hoping for. Opening the 2026 campaign with four games at home against a Los Angeles team that finished last in the AL West last season offered a momentum-building opportunity that they failed to take advantage of. Now, a three-game series with the Boston Red Sox awaits, followed by a nine-game road trip.

That isn't great news for Houston's already-tired bullpen. The struggles of the club's starters have placed significant pressure on their relief corps, who have pitched an MLB-high 18.1 innings to date.

Now, as with any trends being identified through the season's opening weekend, it's still early. Maybe a healthy Lance McCullers Jr. can rediscover his 2021 form (13-5, 3.16 ERA) and shut down the Red Sox tonight in his first start of the season. And maybe the likes of Burrows, Javier and Imai will be able to settle down and relax a bit as they head into their second starts.

But with Spencer Arrighetti starting the season at Triple-A, this is the Astros' starting five for the time being. There's still plenty of time to figure things out, but the early returns beyond Brown were far from promising.