{"id":356063,"date":"2026-06-11T10:03:21","date_gmt":"2026-06-11T10:03:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/356063\/"},"modified":"2026-06-11T10:03:21","modified_gmt":"2026-06-11T10:03:21","slug":"houston-astros-kai-wei-tengs-sweeper-deserts-him-early-in-loss","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/356063\/","title":{"rendered":"Houston Astros: Kai-Wei Teng’s sweeper deserts him early in loss"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"A<\/p>\n

A sweeper that hand helped land him in the Astros’ rotation betrayed Kai-Wei Teng in undoubtedly his roughest start of the season Tuesday against the Angels.<\/p>\n

Scott Strazzante\/AP<\/p>\n

ANAHEIM, Calif.\u00a0\u2014 For Kai-Wei Teng<\/a>, success starts with a sweeper. The right-hander throws a half-dozen pitches, but no other has proven more vital to his entry into the Houston Astros<\/a>\u2019\u00a0rotation.<\/p>\n

Entering Tuesday, Teng had thrown his most-used pitch 35.4% of the time. Hitters owned a .132 average, a .224 slugging percentage and a 31.1% whiff rate against it. Baseball Savant assessed Teng\u2019s sweeper a plus-7 run value, the highest for any individual pitch on the Houston staff.<\/p>\n

Teng\u2019s development of the sweeper has spanned years. He did not begin his professional career with it but stumbled on it while at High-A in 2021 in the San Francisco Giants system, he recalled last month.<\/p>\n

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\u201cBack in that time, I just liked to play with the ball when I was in the bullpen or the dugout, and there was one time that I discovered this grip,\u201d Teng said, through an interpreter. \u201cIt felt comfortable having this grip, so I (thought) the next day playing catch, I can throw it with my teammate.\u201d<\/p>\n

Teng considered the pitch a slider at the time, just more natural to throw than his old slider. At Triple-A, in 2023, a pitching coach classified it as a sweeper. So Teng started then to \u201creally dig in\u201d to elements of the pitch like spin rate and axis to learn \u201chow to make this pitch better,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo matter what pitch I\u2019m (throwing), I always think the same\u00a0\u2014 always release it like a fastball,\u201d Teng said. \u201cI think that\u2019s probably why my sweeper has really late break.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The results helped propel Teng, the offseason trade addition from the Giants, into a larger role with the Astros in the first half. He had finished 45.5% of at-bats with the sweeper entering Tuesday, compiling a 3.06 ERA and .204 opponents\u2019 average across 47 innings.<\/p>\n

Tuesday, then, in Teng\u2019s seventh start for the Astros, his feel for his signature pitch briefly disappeared. The result was an outing that snowballed in the second inning, putting Houston in a seven-run deficit it could not overcome in a 10-1 loss to the Los Angeles Angels<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Teng is among the pitchers who have helped stabilize the Astros\u2019 rotation<\/a> in recent weeks, context that should be kept in mind. His last two starts have raised his ERA by more than a run, meanwhile, to 3.71, with the Angels chasing him after four innings on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s been really good for us, and just today he had a tough time just getting ahead of hitters,\u201d manager Joe Espada said. \u201cDidn\u2019t create a ton of swing-and-misses, behind in the count. He tried to work through some trouble there and he did give us two more innings when we needed him just to kind of protect our bullpen. But just not his best performance.\u201d<\/p>\n

BATTERS
\nAVG
\nOBA
\nAB
\nR
\nH
\n2B
\n3B
\nHR
\nRBI
\nBB
\nSO
\nSB
\nCS
\nE<\/p>\n

Team Totals
\n.244
\n.320
\n2320
\n313
\n566
\n113
\n5
\n86
\n301
\n235
\n573
\n24
\n12
\n27<\/p>\n

Wade
\n.333
\n.385
\n12
\n2
\n4
\n2
\n0
\n1
\n4
\n1
\n3
\n0
\n0
\n0<\/p>\n

Alvarez
\n.317
\n.432
\n243
\n46
\n77
\n13
\n0
\n22
\n48
\n46
\n52
\n1
\n0
\n1<\/p>\n

Pe\u00f1a
\n.281
\n.348
\n121
\n23
\n34
\n7
\n0
\n3
\n12
\n10
\n20
\n5
\n1
\n5<\/p>\n

Correa
\n.279
\n.369
\n122
\n22
\n34
\n8
\n0
\n3
\n16
\n18
\n26
\n1
\n0
\n1<\/p>\n

Trammell
\n.279
\n.338
\n68
\n8
\n19
\n4
\n1
\n0
\n6
\n5
\n26
\n1
\n0
\n1<\/p>\n

Loperfido
\n.262
\n.343
\n61
\n7
\n16
\n5
\n0
\n0
\n7
\n7
\n21
\n1
\n1
\n1<\/p>\n

Allen
\n.250
\n.290
\n64
\n12
\n16
\n2
\n0
\n1
\n5
\n3
\n14
\n1
\n0
\n0<\/p>\n

Walker
\n.249
\n.320
\n253
\n39
\n63
\n12
\n1
\n16
\n48
\n23
\n60
\n0
\n0
\n0<\/p>\n

Shewmake
\n.243
\n.260
\n74
\n8
\n18
\n3
\n0
\n3
\n8
\n2
\n13
\n0
\n0
\n1<\/p>\n

Paredes
\n.240
\n.337
\n225
\n27
\n54
\n12
\n0
\n9
\n33
\n26
\n43
\n0
\n0
\n5<\/p>\n

Diaz
\n.238
\n.255
\n101
\n7
\n24
\n5
\n0
\n2
\n14
\n3
\n16
\n0
\n1
\n0<\/p>\n

Altuve
\n.237
\n.320
\n177
\n30
\n42
\n10
\n0
\n5
\n13
\n21
\n43
\n1
\n2
\n2<\/p>\n

V\u00e1zquez
\n.237
\n.295
\n135
\n14
\n32
\n6
\n0
\n4
\n19
\n11
\n24
\n0
\n0
\n0<\/p>\n

Harris
\n.226
\n.286
\n31
\n4
\n7
\n0
\n1
\n0
\n4
\n2
\n6
\n2
\n0
\n0<\/p>\n

Smith
\n.220
\n.310
\n223
\n26
\n49
\n10
\n1
\n6
\n25
\n26
\n70
\n8
\n1
\n4<\/p>\n

Meyers
\n.216
\n.280
\n97
\n10
\n21
\n4
\n0
\n2
\n9
\n8
\n21
\n1
\n2
\n0<\/p>\n

Matthews
\n.208
\n.259
\n154
\n16
\n32
\n4
\n1
\n4
\n15
\n11
\n54
\n2
\n4
\n1<\/p>\n

Price
\n.200
\n.273
\n10
\n1
\n2
\n1
\n0
\n0
\n0
\n1
\n5
\n0
\n0
\n0<\/p>\n

Dezenzo
\n.191
\n.255
\n47
\n5
\n9
\n4
\n0
\n1
\n2
\n4
\n19
\n0
\n0
\n0<\/p>\n

Cole
\n.157
\n.189
\n51
\n4
\n8
\n1
\n0
\n3
\n8
\n1
\n21
\n0
\n0
\n1<\/p>\n

Johnson
\n.143
\n.294
\n14
\n1
\n2
\n0
\n0
\n0
\n0
\n2
\n3
\n0
\n0
\n0<\/p>\n

Whitcomb
\n.105
\n.150
\n19
\n1
\n2
\n0
\n0
\n1
\n4
\n1
\n10
\n0
\n0
\n0<\/p>\n

Salazar
\n.056
\n.227
\n18
\n0
\n1
\n0
\n0
\n0
\n1
\n3
\n3
\n0
\n0
\n0<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

PITCHERS
\nW
\nL
\nERA
\nG
\nGS
\nSV
\nIP
\nH
\nR
\nER
\nHR
\nBB
\nSO<\/p>\n

Team Totals
\n31
\n38
\n4.91
\n69
\n69
\n17
\n608.1
\n551
\n350
\n332
\n87
\n327
\n581<\/p>\n

Hader
\n1
\n0
\n0.00
\n3
\n0
\n1
\n3
\n0
\n0
\n0
\n0
\n1
\n7<\/p>\n

VanWey
\n0
\n0
\n0.00
\n3
\n0
\n0
\n3
\n1
\n0
\n0
\n0
\n0
\n5<\/p>\n

Brown
\n1
\n0
\n0.84
\n2
\n2
\n0
\n10.2
\n5
\n1
\n1
\n0
\n6
\n17<\/p>\n

Santa
\n0
\n1
\n1.80
\n6
\n0
\n0
\n10
\n4
\n5
\n2
\n0
\n5
\n8<\/p>\n

Arrighetti
\n7
\n1
\n2.21
\n10
\n10
\n0
\n57
\n37
\n16
\n14
\n3
\n31
\n53<\/p>\n

King
\n0
\n1
\n2.54
\n25
\n0
\n6
\n28.1
\n26
\n10
\n8
\n1
\n11
\n21<\/p>\n

Okert
\n0
\n0
\n3.00
\n31
\n1
\n0
\n30
\n18
\n10
\n10
\n3
\n10
\n26<\/p>\n

De Los Santos
\n0
\n1
\n3.21
\n26
\n0
\n4
\n28
\n22
\n11
\n10
\n2
\n5
\n28<\/p>\n

Lambert
\n5
\n4
\n3.55
\n9
\n9
\n0
\n50.2
\n39
\n20
\n20
\n3
\n25
\n47<\/p>\n

Teng
\n3
\n5
\n3.71
\n20
\n7
\n0
\n51
\n41
\n24
\n21
\n6
\n24
\n49<\/p>\n

Pearson
\n0
\n0
\n4.05
\n6
\n0
\n1
\n6.2
\n5
\n3
\n3
\n1
\n4
\n7<\/p>\n

Blubaugh
\n3
\n2
\n4.22
\n27
\n0
\n0
\n42.2
\n31
\n20
\n20
\n5
\n24
\n37<\/p>\n

Roa
\n0
\n1
\n5.19
\n7
\n0
\n0
\n8.2
\n10
\n5
\n5
\n1
\n7
\n6<\/p>\n

Imai
\n3
\n3
\n5.24
\n8
\n8
\n0
\n34.1
\n25
\n20
\n20
\n5
\n23
\n36<\/p>\n

Bolton
\n0
\n1
\n5.40
\n8
\n3
\n1
\n20
\n21
\n12
\n12
\n3
\n14
\n22<\/p>\n

Burrows
\n3
\n8
\n5.77
\n13
\n13
\n0
\n73.1
\n87
\n49
\n47
\n17
\n28
\n60<\/p>\n

Abreu
\n2
\n2
\n6.85
\n25
\n0
\n4
\n22.1
\n18
\n18
\n17
\n5
\n24
\n31<\/p>\n

McCullers
\n2
\n3
\n6.86
\n8
\n8
\n0
\n39.1
\n38
\n32
\n30
\n7
\n22
\n43<\/p>\n

Murray
\n0
\n0
\n7.15
\n7
\n0
\n0
\n11.1
\n16
\n9
\n9
\n0
\n7
\n5<\/p>\n

Weiss
\n0
\n3
\n7.62
\n9
\n2
\n0
\n26
\n35
\n24
\n22
\n8
\n20
\n30<\/p>\n

France
\n0
\n0
\n8.10
\n3
\n0
\n0
\n6.2
\n6
\n6
\n6
\n1
\n5
\n4<\/p>\n

Sousa
\n0
\n0
\n8.10
\n5
\n0
\n0
\n3.1
\n3
\n3
\n3
\n0
\n5
\n4<\/p>\n

Salazar
\n0
\n0
\n9.00
\n1
\n0
\n0
\n1
\n1
\n1
\n1
\n1
\n0
\n0<\/p>\n

Alexander
\n1
\n1
\n9.33
\n4
\n2
\n0
\n18.1
\n21
\n19
\n19
\n4
\n8
\n14<\/p>\n

Gordon
\n0
\n0
\n11.57
\n4
\n1
\n0
\n9.1
\n21
\n12
\n12
\n6
\n3
\n11<\/p>\n

Javier
\n0
\n1
\n12.54
\n3
\n3
\n0
\n9.1
\n13
\n13
\n13
\n2
\n9
\n4<\/p>\n

Mu\u00f1oz
\n0
\n0
\n15.75
\n3
\n0
\n0
\n4
\n7
\n7
\n7
\n3
\n6
\n6<\/p>\n

A culprit was clear. Teng struggled to locate his sweeper from the onset. He got ahead 1-2 against his first hitter, Zach Neto, before missing badly with two sweepers in a seven-pitch walk. An error on a potential double-play grounder by shortstop Jeremy Pe\u00f1a compounded the inning. After it, Teng got to 2-2 against Jo Adell but yanked two sweepers for another walk that loaded the bases.<\/p>\n

Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n

In a 3-1 count to Nolan Schanuel, Teng threw a sweeper that plunked the left-handed hitter on the leg to force in a run. Jose Altuve\u2019s bobbled exchange on another possible double-play ball allowed in another. Teng did strike out Denzer Guzman to end the inning in a six-pitch at-bat in which he threw all sweepers. But the issue carried into the second.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor the first two innings, I couldn\u2019t really locate my sweeper,\u201d Teng said. \u201cAnd after I couldn\u2019t really locate my sweeper, I kind of tried a bit too hard and it made the situation worse.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the second, Teng and catcher Christian V\u00e1zquez tried other solutions. Teng threw 29 pitches in a five-run inning, just four classified as sweepers by Statcast. Adell pulled one on the ground for a two-run double. But that came after Sebasti\u00e1n Rivero and Mike Trout had singled on four-seam fastballs and Wade Meckler had lined a two-run double on a sinker.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would say one of the reasons I threw a lot of fastballs today is because I couldn\u2019t really locate my sweeper, but on the other hand, my sweeper plays when I have a good fastball,\u201d Teng said. \u201cSo I really have to throw the fastball even if I couldn\u2019t really throw my sweeper. I have to just keep trying and keep attacking.\u201d<\/p>\n

Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n

After the second inning, Teng said, he \u201ctold myself to settle down\u201d and located the sweeper better. He covered two more innings but ended the fourth with 93 pitches and did not return. Houston\u2019s offense, finishing 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position and stranding 11, could not erase the damage done.<\/p>\n

Following Teng\u2019s exit, AJ Blubaugh and Alimber Santa each worked two innings, mitigating some of the impact on its bullpen. Most other relievers will likely be rested for Wednesday\u2019s finale behind Peter Lambert, an opportunity to win a series for the Astros, who at 31-38 must continue to seize them.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A sweeper that hand helped land him in the Astros’ rotation betrayed Kai-Wei Teng in undoubtedly his roughest…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":356064,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[163,165,164],"class_list":["post-356063","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-anaheim","tag-anaheim","tag-anaheim-headlines","tag-anaheim-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/356063","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=356063"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/356063\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/356064"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=356063"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=356063"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=356063"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}