Skip to main content
Inside the Astros

Astros Face Issues After Latest Lance McCullers Start, Hunter Brown Injury

Houston has a big issue on their radar and it isn't new, but it has gotten worse now in the last 12 hours.
Maddy Dickens|
Houston Astros manager Joe Espada (19) looks out at his team before the game against the Washington Nationals at CACTI Park of the Palm Beaches.
Houston Astros manager Joe Espada (19) looks out at his team before the game against the Washington Nationals at CACTI Park of the Palm Beaches. | Jim Rassol-Imagn Images

In this story:

Houston Astros

The Houston Astros have an easy-to-spot issue with their current roster: depth with the starting rotation. Even though the Astros currently sit at the top of the AL West but, that is primarily thanks to their bats, which have scored the most runs in all of baseball.

Houston was already lacking arms in the rotation last season, and they took a huge blow when Framber Valdez departed the team this offseason when he signed with the Detroit Tigers.

Replacing him with Tatsuya Imai was a gamble since he had yet to be a major league pitcher, and that hasn't necessarily gone in either Imai's or the Astros favor thus far.

So, their ace, Hunter Brown, as well as Lance McCullers Jr,. were the primary positive notes to hang its hat on. But Brown is now on the injured list with a shoulder strain, and McCullers Jr didn't have an ideal start by any means in his second start of the season in the finale against the Athletics.

McCullers Against the A's

McCullers throws a baseball in awhite jersey
Houston Astros starting pitcher Lance McCullers Jr. (43) delivers a pitch during the second inning against the Boston Red Sox at Daikin Park. | Troy Taormina-Imagn Images

McCullers was exceptional in his personal opener this season as he threw a beautiful seven-inning masterpiece, but things went south in the finale against the Athletics. If someone were to look at his 3.28 ERA, it would be hard to understand why any of this is warranted.

However, it isn't just that he had to be pulled in the fourth, but the fact that he put his team into a massive jam. The A's started to find all of their momentum at this point as he had a single, a walk, then a double to start the inning before he was pulled.

It is one game. There is no reason to start down a dark path by any means, but it is really easy to get antsy with the No.1 pitcher now on the injured list and nothing else positive coming from the Astros starting rotation right now.

The Rotation Without Brown

McCullers would have had to allow countless runs in his second start for him to not be considered their No.2 pitcher right now, as there is quite the drop off amongst starters, but the biggest eye sore is Cristian Javier.

Javier has by far the worst ERA in his pair of starts this year, as he now has a 12.96 ERA and has walked nine batters in 8.1 innings.

Brown was supposed to make the next start for the Astros against the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field, but Houston is going to have to figure out what they are going to do with their rotation now that he is out, and they are already short-staffed.

Loading recommendations... Please wait while we load personalized content recommendations

Published
Maddy Dickens
MADDY DICKENS

Maddy Dickens resides in Loveland, Colorado. She grew up with two older brothers, where their lives revolved around sports. She earned a master's degree in business management from Tarleton State University while simultaneously playing basketball and competing in rodeo at the collegiate level. She successfully parlayed a reserve national championship into a professional rodeo career and now stays involved in upper-level athletics by writing for On SI on several different MLB teams' pages, along with some NCAA sites.

Home/News