Astros' Hottest Offseason Acquisition Struggles in Regular-Season Debut

Mike Burrows was not his normal spring self on Friday night as the Houston Astros fell to the Angels at Daikin Park.

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After being three-hit by José Soriano and the Los Angeles Angels on Opening Day, the Houston Astros fell once again in game two of 162 this season.

Mike Burrows outperformed every other Astros pitcher in spring training, but he struggled mightily in his first regular-season start in a Houston uniform. The righty allowed five runs on nine hits and two homers over 5.2 innings.

Most of the damage came in the second inning when Burrows allowed a three-run homer to Josh Lowe. He let a 95 mph fastball get too much of the plate, and Lowe crushed it 374 feet into the Crawford Boxes in left field.

He settled in nicely afterward and only allowed a Mike Trout solo shot later in the fifth. His first Astros appearance didn't go as hoped, but Houston will be relying heavily on him this season.

Brice Matthews Doubled in His Regular-Season Debut on Friday

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Houston's No. 4 prospect Brice Matthews went 1-for-3 with a double in his season debut. The 24-year-old rookie started the game in center field before being pinch-hit for by Joey Loperfido to lead off the ninth inning.

Yordan Alvarez hit his first homer of the season, It was a bomb to right field that traveled 378 feet at 104.9 mph.

Lefty Steven Okert was fantastic during his 1.2 innings of shutout ball. He struck out three batters and faced the minimum.

Okert produced a 3.01 ERA and 0.89 WHIP over 68 games last season and was one of the most reliable relievers in his first season in Houston.

After posting an elite 2.87 ERA over 30 starts in the KBO last season, 29-year-old Ryan Weiss finally made his long-awaited MLB debut in the ninth inning. Weiss allowed a homer to Zach Neto on the second pitch of his outing.

Ryan Weiss Showed Potential in His Rocky MLB Debut

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He then allowed a walk and a single before striking out two of the next three batters and working out of the jam. Despite his shaky outing, Weiss is an interesting name to watch this season. He's been a starter roughly half of his career, but has been out of professional baseball in America since the end of 2023.

Since then, he's spent time in the CPBL (China), Atlantic League (IND) and the KBO. Over the offseason, Houston signed Weiss to a $2.6 million, one-year deal. He posted a 3.48 ERA over 10.1 spring innings.

The Astros will take on the Angels in game three of the four-game set on Saturday at 6:10 p.m. central.