Astros Select Cristian Javier to Make Spring Training Debut in WBC Exhibition

The Houston Astros have set their starting pitchers for their next three spring training games that begin on Monday, including a plum assignment for a veteran pitcher in a World Baseball Classic exhibition game.

Cristian Javier will take the ball when the Astros host Team Venezuela on Tuesday in that WBC exhibition. It will be Houston’s only game against a WBC team before the tournament begins. Houston has already decided that second baseman and Venezuela native Jose Altuve will not play in the game.

Javier is from the Dominican Republic but is not pitching for his home country in the WBC. It will be his spring training debut.

Houston’s opening day starter, Hunter Brown, will take the ball in Monday’s game. Colton Gordon, who is competing for one of the remaining rotation spots, will start Wednesday’s game. MLB.com reported the probable starters.

Cristian Javier’s Astros Ramp-Up

Houston Astros starting pitcher Cristian Javier throws a baseball during a game. — Houston Astros starting pitcher Cristian Javier. | Thomas Shea-Imagn Images

Javier is on a slower ramp up than other starting pitchers because he's thrown in just 15 regular-season games since the start of the 2024 season. That was due to an elbow injury that led to Tommy John surgery.

He returned at the end of last season to start eight games and went 2-4 with a 4.62 ERA. He struck out 34 and walked 15 in 37 innings.

Before the injury, he was a workhorse in 2022 and 2023 for Houston. In 2022 he went 11-9 with a 2.54 ERA in 30 games, including 25 starts, with 194 strikeouts and 52 walks in 148.2 innings. He contributed to a team that won its second World Series title. The following season he went 10-5 with a 4.56 ERA in 31 starts, as he struck out 159 and walked 62 in 162 innings.

The Astros have already decided that they will begin the season with a six-man rotation, something Major League teams rarely do. For the Astros, it's a combination of their early season schedule and the fact that they have so many options to choose from.

Brown and Javier are essentially locks for the rotation. So is Tatsuya Imai, the Japanese star that Houston signed in January. From there, the Astros have several options to choose from. That list includes Gordon, along with Brandon Walter, Jason Alexander, Spencer Arrighetti, Lance McCullers Jr., Nate Pearson, Ryan Weiss, Miguel Ullola, AJ Blubaugh and Mike Burrows.

Ullola is one of the Astros’ highest rated prospects and has not played in the Majors yet.