Astros Pull Off Trade With Blue Jays, Exchange Pitchers

The Houston Astros have pulled off an early season trade with the Toronto Blue Jays, swapping a pair of pitchers.

Feb 17, 2025; Dunedin, FL, USA; Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Nick Robertson (33) prepares to warm up during spring training at Cecil B. Englebert Complex. | Jonathan Dyer-Imagn Images

The Houston Astros have had a relatively strong start to the year, winning a series against the New York Mets and getting some strong pitching along the way. There's a long way to go, but it's never too early to start making changes.

The Astros announced a trade with the Toronto Blue Jays on Tuesday, sending minor league pitcher Edinson Batista up north for reliever Nick Robertson.

Robertson has had difficulty keeping his ERA down, but last year he improved compared to previous seasons. In 13.1 innings with the Blue Jays and St. Louis Cardinals, he had a 4.05 ERA, a 1.27 WHIP, 14 strikeouts and only two walks.

Despite the small sample size, he proved that he could maintain low walk numbers while producing a decent amount of strikeouts.

However, the 26-year-old was recently designated for assignment before making his 2025 season debut.

As for the player Houston gave up, Batista was an amateur free agent signing back in 2019 and has struggled recently. He spent last year at High-A, where he had a 5.01 ERA, a 1.28 WHIP, 103 strikeouts, 54 walks and 18 home runs allowed in 115.1 innings.

While Batista had success at Single-A back in 2022, he has not been able to replicate those results the last two seasons, so the Astros decided to move on.

Houston announced that Robertson will start out in Triple-A Sugar Land. In a corresponding move, Cristian Javier will move to the 60-day injured list to make room for him on the 40-man roster.