Houston Astros Struggling Starter Bounced Back From Horrid Performance

Most things are starting to go from bad to worse for the Houston Astros in 2024, but it's not all doom-and-gloom for the club.

With pretty much their entire starting rotation on the injured list, it's not shocking the Astros have been off to a cold start. They have called up a couple of pitchers to fill gaps, but have gotten mixed results from those called on -- outside of Ronel Blanco.

One of the more interesting cases on the roster, though, is 25-year-old Hunter Brown.

The righty is in his second full season on the roster has had some vastly different results so far.

After starting the year with a scoreless four inning performance against the New York Yankees, he put out back-to-back terrible performances.

Against the Texas Rangers, he gave up five runs in three innings of work. Against the Kansas City Royals, he was chased after only retiring two batters while allowing eleven hits and nine runs. His ERA skyrocketed to 16.43.

In a much needed performance, though, Brown bounced back with a solid outing against the Atlanta Braves.

The Braves have one of the scariest lineups in baseball, so his performance was much-needed after what had previously transpired. The right-hander was able to hold them to a very modest day while earning himself a quality start.

Brown's final line was six innings pitched, two earned runs on five hits. He walked and struck out three batters a piece. His ERA is now down to 10.54.

He was drafted in the fifth round of the 2019 MLB draft by Houston out of Wayne State University. He had a few solid appearances in 2022, but 2023 was really his rookie campaign.

Brown had plenty of lots of ups-and-downs that season, but finished with a 5.09 ERA while showing some promise.

He had a very good spring training this year, making it seem like he would take the next step in his career.

The youngster has put together two good starts this as well, but his issues stem from the the two very bad starts.

He's a hard player to read at the moment, but definitely still has promise that will likely keep him in the rotation until the injured starters return.