Can Hunter Brown Fit Into the Houston Astros Postseason Roster?

Houston Astros top prospect Hunter Brown was promoted on Sept. 1 and excelled in his first Major League start. Can the Astros fit him into their postseason plans?

Author:
Ben Silver
Publish date:
Sep 13, 2022 6:00 PM EDT

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Houston Astros

Hunter Brown is a special player, but it seems like he might not be eligible to pitch this postseason. The 24-year-old former-fifth round pick proved how valuable he could be in his first Major League start last Monday and looks to repeat that feat Tuesday evening against the Detroit Tigers.

Brown's six innings of three-hit ball helped propel the Astros to a 1-0 victory over the Texas Rangers, not to mention Brown's five strikeouts and one walk. Clearly the Astros view their No. 1 prospect by MLB Pipeline very highly to call him up into such a crowded rotation.

Yet, it may be that Brown was called up a day late. MLB's website very clearly states the rules for postseason roster eligibility.

"In a typical season, any player who is on the 40-man roster or 60-day injured list as of 11:59 p.m. ET on Aug. 31 is eligible for the postseason."

Brown was called up Sept. 1, so open and shut case, he's ineligible for the postseason. Right?

That is not so, as there is a loophole for prospects and players like Brown. MLB allows players who were in a team's system on Aug. 31 to be added via petition to the Commissioner's Office, but only if said player is replacing someone on the injured list who has served the minimum amount of time required for activation.

For example, Jason Castro has been on the 60-day IL since Aug. 2, he is expected to miss the rest of the season. Thus, the Astros may petition the Commissioner's Office to have Brown replace Castro on the postseason roster as he will have missed more than 60 days by the time playoffs begin.

So once playoffs begin, what role might Brown serve. He won't get starts ahead of Justin Verlander, Framber Valdez, Lance McCullers Jr. and barring a miracle he won't start ahead of Luis Garcia, Jose Urquidy or Christian Javier.

So Brown will sit at sixth or seventh in the depth chart come the postseason. As a top prospect who seems likely to one day pitch at the front-end of a rotation, the obvious comparison is David Price.

Coming into 2008, Price was Baseball Prospectus' No. 6 prospect, so he held a higher pedigree than Brown, but both had similar debuts. In a crowded Tampa Bay Rays rotation, Price made only one start in September, but pitched 14 innings for a 1.93 ERA.

He then went on to make five appearances in late-relief for the Rays in the playoffs, throwing 5.2 innings of one-run ball. That is what Houston could, and should do with Brown. With a blazing fastball and a biting curveball, he profiles well out of the bullpen this October.

Able to empty the tank immediately, Brown need not worry about conserving stamina versus big league hitters in short outings. Focusing on his two plus-pitches, he's an ideal candidate to aid Ryan Stanek, Rafael Montero, Bryan Abreu and Ryan Pressly in late-inning relief.