Astros Ace Hunter Brown Has Been Otherworldly in Last Four Starts

The Houston Astros flamethrower has reached a new level of dominance over the past few weeks.

Aug 1, 2025; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Houston Astros starting pitcher Hunter Brown (58) pitches against the Boston Red Sox during the first inning at Fenway Park. | Eric Canha-Imagn Images

With the second half of August now here and the temperature outside reaching scorching new highs, the chase for both the American and National League pennants are reaching a fever pitch as the home stretch of the 2025 MLB season continues.

One team in particular that will be looking to regain its crown atop the AL throne come October will be the Houston Astros, who have overcome several obstacles this year to put themselves in the driver's seat out west.

A key piece to their success so far this season has been the emergence of starting pitcher Hunter Brown on the mound.

After putting together respectable campaigns over his first few years in the big leagues, Brown has exploded into one of the best hurlers in all of baseball over the course of 2025.

Hunter Brown Has Taken His Game To Next Level

Thomas Shea-Imagn Images

The flamethrowing right-hander has looked every bit the part of a Cy Young-caliber ace for the Astros, posting a 2.45 ERA, 1.00 WHIP and striking out 164 opposing batters across his first 24 starts of the season.

He's also reached a completely different level of dominance over his last four starts on the mound for Houston, posting an absurd 1.88 ERA over this stretch while also punching out 20 hitters and allowing just seven total walks.

To put Brown's recent stretch into perspective, the current AL Cy Young frontrunner, Tarik Skubal, has posted a 3.56 ERA over the same stretch, while the consensus second-place runner at the moment, Garrett Crochet, has an ERA sitting at 3.91.

Hunter Brown has been a DAWG 🔥

(Stats via: @AstrosFuture) pic.twitter.com/eu103gEJXH

— SleeperAstros (@SleeperAstros) August 15, 2025

This means that compared to the two guys who are currently viewed as the frontrunners for the title of best American League starter, Brown has been blowing both of them out of the water over the past few weeks.

Granted, this is very small sample size and there's no question that both Crochet and Skubal have been better than Brown over the course of the entire season, but it's worth comparing the three in this context to show just how dominant the Astros ace has been as of late.

He's been the steadying force for a Houston rotation that has been decimated by injuries, and he's continued to turn up the heat for the team when they've needed it the most over the past month or so with the Seattle Mariners hot on their tail in the division standings.

Brown may not currently figure into the AL Cy Young race, but he could end up giving the voters something to think about come season's end if he can maintain his recent form the rest of the way.