Brown Vying For Role As Fifth Starter To Open Season For Houston Astros

It’s unfortunate that Lance McCullers Jr. is struggling with a strained right forearm.

For Hunter Brown, it’s an opportunity.

Brown has been solid through four starts in spring training. In Brown’s last outing Friday, he tossed four innings, gave up a solo home run and struck out four. His command was excellent.

“I’m just trying to string the good ones together, put the distance from the not-so-great results with a bunch of good ones in between,” said Brown, the Houston Astros’ top-ranked prospect. “Each game, you kind of get back into the feel. Early, things that you used in the past kind of start coming back to you as you get more and more outings. As the spring goes on, maybe the light bulb goes off.”

After a September callup in 2022, Brown produced a 0.89 ERA in 20 1/3 innings and continued with three scoreless appearances during the postseason on their way to a World Series title.

Brown’s fastball and curveball look better than ever now.

And that has to be promising for the Astros, who lost Justin Verlander to free agency and then McCullers Jr. in camp.

If Brown starts the regular season strong, it might be tough to remove him from the rotation as the fifth starter.

It’s a great problem for the Astros.

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