Astros Ace Hunter Brown Joins Elite Company in Completing Impressive Statistical Feat

With a postseason spot on the line, the Houston Astros have gotten the best out of Hunter Brown lately, as he nears the end of an outstanding 2025 campaign.

Sep 19, 2025; Houston, Texas, USA; Houston Astros starting pitcher Hunter Brown (58) reacts after a strike out to retire the side against the Seattle Mariners during the sixth inning at Daikin Park. Mandatory Credit: Erik Williams-Imagn Images | Erik Williams-Imagn Images

The Houston Astros are in an intriguing position as the MLB regular season starts to wrap up. They have lost a substantial amount of their early-year momentum and find themselves in a dogfight over one of the final American League Wild Card spots.

As they continue to fight for a postseason position, they have had some inconsistent pitching across the board, especially when it comes to starters such as Framber Valdez.

However, one name has remained at the top all season long, just coming onto the mound and putting together exceptional reps each time he starts a game. That has been Hunter Brown, who has shown fans just how outstanding he can really be with a truly impressive 2025 campaign. In fact, he has joined five other Astros pitchers in setting a specific single-season mark.

Hunter Brown's incredible season reaches another impressive milestone 👏 pic.twitter.com/e9CjK1v1J1

— MLB (@MLB) September 20, 2025

The elusive statistic in question? Pitching 185 or more innings in a season while maintaining a 2.45 or lower ERA during that span. Brown completed what should be his final start of the regular season on Wednesday, bringing his season total up to 185.1 innings on the mound, with a 2.43 ERA on the year. The company he is now putting himself in is rather impressive, as the franchise has only a few others who have been able to complete that.

Who Are the Other Pitchers Who Have Completed This Feat in a Season?

Troy Taormina-Imagn Images

As Chandler Rome of The Athletic notes (subscription required), the group who have met this statistical threshold for Houston includes Roger Clemens, most recently, who did it in 2005, as well as Mike Scott in 1986, as he went on to win a National League Cy Young Award.

The other three names on that list not mentioned are Andy Pettitte, who also completed this in 2005, Larry Dierker in 1969, and Mike Cuellar in 1966. Of the bunch, Dierker had by far the most innings thrown, posting 305.1 in a single season across a whopping 39 appearances, while putting up a 2.33 ERA and 232 strikeouts.

The lowest ERA is obviously Clemens, as his 2005 season was one of legend, accruing a 1.87 ERA in 211.1 innings, with 185 strikeouts, 62 walks, a 1.008 WHIP and a 2.87 FIP.

This is some pretty exceptional company for Brown to be joining, and hopefully, as he continues to improve over the course of the next few years, he will show that this level of success is not just a single-season thing, but rather the standard he sets for himself each time he pitches.