How Astros Ace Hunter Brown Earned Opening Day Starter Status

After a breakout 2025 season, Astros starting pitcher Hunter Brown officially earned the game ball for this year's Opening Day start.

Houston Astros starting pitcher Hunter Brown pitches. | Dale Zanine-Imagn Images

It was inevitable, and for good reason. The Houston Astros emerging ace in Hunter Brown was recently crowned the Opening Day starter on the first day of pitchers reporting to West Palm Beach, Florida for spring training. Manager Joe Espada immediately broke in the big news as soon as Brown arrived.

Building off 1st season as ace, Astros name Hunter Brown as Opening Day starter https://t.co/xZTk4nM7Cj

— Brian McTaggart (@brianmctaggart) February 11, 2026

According to Brian McTaggart of MLB.com, Espada said that Brown was "fired up" and he’s like, ‘Joe, thank you. I will not take this for granted.’

The Newest Opening Day Starter

Houston Astros starting pitcher Hunter Brown | Dale Zanine-Imagn Images

Brown will headline the newly structured rotation with returning starters Cristian Javier, Spencer Arrighetti and newcomers Tatsuya Imai, Ryan Weiss, and Mike Burrows. It will be the first time a new starter makes opening day since 2022, when Framber Valdez, who is now a Detroit Tiger, pitched Opening Day for four straight seasons.

Seeing "The Diesel" receive these honors isn't surprising to say the least. The 27-year-old culminated a breakout All-Star season last year, pitching to a 2.43 ERA across 185 innings with 206 strikeouts in 31 starts.

How It Started

Making his debut 2022 season during which the Astros ended up in a World Series championship has some growing pains. Rookies desperately want to perform at a high level to maintain a championship roster slot.

Failure to meet those expectations lowers their chances of performing at the biggest stage. That didn't happen to Brown. He performed exceptionally in his major league debut on September 5th, a month before the postseason, pitching six shutout innings against his in-state rival Texas Rangers.

This translated well into the postseason, pitching several scoreless innings in relief during the ALDS against the Seattle Mariners and ALCS against the New York Yankees.

Brown Starting To Show Cracks

Houston Astros starting pitcher Hunter Brown | Thomas Shea-Imagn Images

Hoping to translate his first impression in 2023 with possible Rookie of The Year Honors, Brown struggled mostly all season. He did boast a solid April. Picking up where he left off, the Michigan native posted a 2.37 ERA with 32 strikeouts in 30.1 innings pitched.


Unfortunately it was short-lived, as Brown's ERA gradually got worse, citing a calm before the storm. By June, Brown went from promising All-Star to struggling middle of the road pitcher in the rotation. He pitched to a sub-4 ERA after July and things weren't getting any better.



The final three months of Brown's regular season illustrated the wheels falling right off, with ERAs of 5.92 in July, 6.23 in August, and a whopping 9.23 ERA in September. He finished the regular season going 11-13 with a 5.09 ERA and a 1.36 WHIP in 155.2 innings.

Brown's problem in 2023 struggled with putting hitters away when he was behind in the count in the middle innings. According to FanGraphs, Brown's batting average against hitters rose to .278 or higher when he failed to put himself in the drivers seat. A season with the majority of poor starts, Brown displayed flashes of dominance in short bursts. It's why former manager Dusty Baker considered sliding Brown to the bullpen, a job the young righthander almost always performed better.

One Thing Brown Did That Helped His Case

Heading into the 2023 postseason, Brown had not surrendered a run in 15 relief innings, both regular season and postseason. If he could channel the success he had in relief to his starts, then Brown would be unstoppable.

The shutout pitching in relief during the 2023 playoffs were snapped, posting a 3.15 ERA in seven innings, but promising things were ahead. Brown entered 2024 hoping to take the success he had in relief and apply it to his starts. Although it began as a starters meltdown, posting a 11.84 ERA in 19 innings allowing 25 earned runs in 5 starts during April, the following month exhibited from hints of improvement to downright dominance.

Nearly on the brink of a minor league demotion, Brown recovered, with a 3.42 ERA in May and a 1.16 ERA in June. The former fifth rounder continued relative dominance towards the end of the season, not allowing his ERA to go above 3.50 across 30 starts in 170 innings.

Verlander Out; Brown In

Houston Astros starting pitcher Justin Verlander | Ken Blaze-Imagn Images

After future Hall of Famer Justin Verlander left in 2023 free agency, the expectation was clear: Hunter Brown needed to elevate his game and become the Astros co-ace alongside Valdez. Brown even mirrored Verlander's pitching stance and style, seeing that he grew up a Tigers fan and looked up to JV. For people who believe in fate, this had to happen.

If 2024 didn't finish the way it did for "the Diesel," the Astros might be looking for another arm to fill in that spot. The thing was, Valdez was unlikely to return to Houston after he became an unrestricted free agent. Contract extensions with Valdez to keep him long term weren't in Houston's future, leaving the ace spot likely open for Brown.

With Valdez' last year on the Astros in 2025, the path for Brown became clear: Not only was the ace slot open, but future Opening Days are his spot to lose.

Heading into 2026, Brown looks through the rear view mirror that was 2025, his breakout season. Now an All-Star, a Cy Young finalist, and what is likely a first of many opening day starts, Brown is on the road to becoming a complete pitcher. At just 27 with a few more years of team control, the keys to start the Astros season on the mound were very much in fact, inevitable.