Houston Astros starting pitcher Ethan Pecko walks toward the dugout before a baseball game against the Los Angeles Angels Wednesday, Aug. 19, 2026, in Houston. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
David J. Phillip/Associated Press
Houston Astros starting pitcher Ethan Pecko throws against the Los Angeles Angels during the first inning of a baseball game Wednesday, Aug. 19, 2026, in Houston. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
David J. Phillip/Associated Press
Houston Astros starting pitcher Ethan Pecko throws against the Los Angeles Angels during the first inning of a baseball game Wednesday, Aug. 19, 2026, in Houston. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
David J. Phillip/Associated Press
Houston Astros starting pitcher Ethan Pecko throws against the Los Angeles Angels during the first inning of a baseball game Wednesday, Aug. 19, 2026, in Houston. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
David J. Phillip/Associated Press
Houston Astros starting pitcher Ethan Pecko throws against the Los Angeles Angels during the first inning of a baseball game Wednesday, Aug. 19, 2026, in Houston. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
David J. Phillip/Associated Press
Houston Astros starting pitcher Ethan Pecko (70) walks toward the dugout after being pulled during the fourth inning of a baseball game against the Los Angeles Angels Wednesday, Aug. 19, 2026, in Houston. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
David J. Phillip/Associated Press
In 1965, the franchise’s fourth year in existence and first with a new nickname, the Houston Astros used 17 different starting pitchers to navigate a season in which they lost 97 games. Those included a future Hall of Famer (Robin Roberts), a pitcher who’d thrown a perfect game in a World Series (Don Larsen), two who started one game in the majors (Don Arlich, Carroll Sembera) and a teenager who become an Astros manager (Larry Dierker).
The dubious franchise record for most starters used in a season stood alone for the next 60 years, until Wednesday, when an Astros team with loftier ambitions called up 23-year-old Ethan Pecko to make his major-league debut and matched it.
That a club clinging to a two-game lead in a woeful American League West would echo its 1965 predecessor was not the plan. Last offseason, general manager Dana Brown led an effort to bolster its pitching depth. Houston acquired five potential starters in major-league free agency or trades. Two are at Triple-A (Ryan Weiss, Kai-Wei Teng), one on the injured list (Mike Burrows) and another in Kansas City (Nate Pearson). The one active, Tatsuya Imai, is stashed in its major-league bullpen.
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The Astros did not acquire a starter at the trade deadline to reinforce a rotation that entered Wednesday with the majors’ third-highest ERA — in fact, traded one away in Spencer Arrighetti who is still tied for the second-most starts on their staff this season — and a week ago deployed a bullpen game in San Francisco that included an opener (Bryan King) who became their 16th pitcher to make a start despite having Ronel Blanco and Imai both available.
Los Angeles
AB
R
H
BI
BB
SO
Avg.
Totals
31
2
5
2
5
11
Meckler lf
3
0
0
0
0
0
.286
b-Siri ph-lf
2
0
0
0
0
1
.257
Trout cf
3
0
1
0
0
1
.240
Schanuel 1b
4
0
0
0
0
1
.278
Neto ss
4
0
1
0
0
0
.224
Ballesteros c
3
0
0
0
1
1
.204
Grissom dh
3
1
0
0
1
3
.244
Lowe rf
2
1
2
0
1
0
.209
c-d’Arnaud ph
0
0
0
0
1
0
.188
1-Frazier pr
0
0
0
0
0
0
.235
Guzman 3b
4
0
1
2
0
2
.233
Peraza 2b
3
0
0
0
1
2
.226
Houston
AB
R
H
BI
BB
SO
Avg.
Totals
28
3
5
3
2
12
Peña ss
1
0
0
0
0
1
.283
a-Allen ph-ss
3
0
0
0
0
3
.252
Alvarez dh
4
1
1
0
0
1
.317
Paredes 3b
3
1
1
0
1
0
.260
Altuve 2b
4
0
1
1
0
1
.246
Wade lf
3
0
1
0
0
1
.226
Varsho cf
0
0
0
0
0
0
.228
Smith rf
2
0
0
1
0
2
.222
Walker 1b
3
0
0
0
0
1
.230
Trammell cf-lf
3
0
0
0
0
1
.215
Vázquez c
2
1
1
1
1
1
.219
Los Angeles
000
200
000_2
5
0
Houston
001
200
00x_3
5
1
a-struck out for Peña in the 3rd. b-struck out for Meckler in the 7th. c-walked for Lowe in the 9th.
1-ran for d’Arnaud in the 9th.
E_Vázquez (1). LOB_Los Angeles 8, Houston 4. 2B_Guzman (6), Altuve (16). HR_Vázquez (7), off Ureña. RBIs_Guzman 2 (20), Vázquez (25), Altuve (37), Smith (47). SB_Frazier (2). CS_Lowe (1). SF_Smith.
Runners left in scoring position_Los Angeles 4 (Siri, Ballesteros, Meckler, Peraza); Houston 2 (Walker 2). RISP_Los Angeles 1 for 8; Houston 1 for 5.
Runners moved up_Peraza.
DP_Houston 1 (Vázquez, Altuve, Vázquez).
Los Angeles
IP
H
R
ER
BB
SO
NP
ERA
Ureña, L, 8-9
5
3
3
3
2
7
94
2.80
Fulmer
1
2
0
0
0
3
22
0.00
Saucedo
1
1-3
0
0
0
0
2
25
5.79
Murphy
2-3
0
0
0
0
0
6
2.08
Houston
IP
H
R
ER
BB
SO
NP
ERA
Pecko
3
2-3
3
2
2
3
4
89
4.91
Sousa, W, 1-1
1
1-3
1
0
0
0
1
18
3.52
Blubaugh, H, 7
1
1
0
0
0
2
12
3.35
Okert, H, 18
1
0
0
0
1
2
20
2.01
Abreu, H, 9
1
0
0
0
0
2
14
4.30
Hader, S, 18-18
1
0
0
0
1
0
19
0.87
Inherited runners-scored_Sousa 1-0. HBP_Pecko (Trout). WP_Ureña.
ABS Challenge_Ballesteros (Strike-Overturned to Ball); Allen (Strike-Overturned to Ball); Allen (Strike-Confirmed); Grissom (Strike-Confirmed); Fulmer (Ball-Overturned to Strike); Paredes (Strike-Overturned to Ball).
Ejected_Espada.
Umpires_Home, Mike Estabrook; First, Lance Barrett; Second, Malachi Moore; Third, Alfonso Marquez.
T_2:54. A_21,162 (41,000).
Blanco was subsequently sent to Triple-A, and with an open rotation slot in this week’s series against the Angels, a team with the second-worst record in the majors, the Astros opted not to reinsert Imai, their marquee free-agent signing last winter, who has pitched twice since July 27. Instead on Wednesday, they promoted their readiest pitching prospect in Pecko, who became their 17th starter this season and latest line of reinforcement for a unit in search of reliability.
“We’re ready for Pecko,” manager Joe Espada said Wednesday afternoon, before his team’s 3-2 win over the Angels. “Everybody’s been talking about him. He’s earned the right to be here today.”
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A sixth-round 2023 draft pick who was named the Astros’ minor-league pitcher of the year the following season, Pecko totaled 22 starts at Triple-A before drawing his first major-league assignment. The Astros took support measures in their capacity. Pecko worked out at Daikin Park the day before to begin to get his bearings. The Astros paired him for his start with catcher Christian Vázquez, a veteran receiver, which Espada deemed “important” while throwing Pecko into a playoff race.
Any level of preparation only goes so far on the precipice of realizing a dream. Pecko said he felt “pretty nervous” Wednesday morning, better when he arrived at Daikin Park then elevated again as he warmed up before his outing. That finally gave way to the feeling of taking the mound.
“It was pretty incredible,” Pecko said. “Words can’t really describe it, you’ve just got to feel it.”
In his debut, Pecko worked 3⅔ innings, facing the Angels’ lineup twice. He grappled with command, especially of his four-seam fastball, and needed 89 pitches to navigate the outing. Still, he limited the damage against him to two runs.
“A little sloppy, but I felt like I battled,” Pecko said. “I didn’t have any expectations, I just wanted to throw well, throw strikes. Command wasn’t there. It’s been a little bit since I threw. But overall, I’m happy with it and I think there’s a lot I can work on.”
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Pecko had last pitched Aug. 9 at Triple-A, working Wednesday on nine days’ rest. He located 31% of his pitches in-zone, per Statcast, but the Angels chased at a 36% clip and whiffed on 11 of 39 swings taken against him. Pecko allowed three hits, walked three batters and struck out four.
“I thought he handled it very well,” Espada said. “He’s got some swing-and-miss stuff. Fastball’s good, the sinker, threw some good sweepers. It’s really good stuff. Missed some arm-side with his fastball. He gets the stuff in the zone, he could be pretty dangerous.”
An average of 3.3 walks per nine innings in the minors indicated Pecko was not his sharpest. He touched 95.9 mph with his four-seam fastball but threw just seven of 28 for strikes. Pecko attributed that to “just a mechanical thing.” Vázquez called nearly as many sinkers, which induced six whiffs on 15 swings.
“He looked calm,” Vázquez said. “Very competitive pitches. Only the fastball was missing up. The curveball was very good, the sinker to righties. It was a lot of takes on sinkers, so it was good.”
The Angels scored their two runs in the fourth inning. Vaughn Grissom walked, Josh Lowe flared a single and Denzer Guzman drove a full-count sweeper to left field, where a fan in the Crawford Boxes reached over and caught the ball. Umpires ruled a double on fan interference and that both runners, who were moving on the pitch, scored.
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Pecko faced one more hitter, striking out Oswald Peraza, before being removed. Five relievers combined to author 5 1/3 scoreless innings from there, helping the Astros snap a three-game losing streak despite another quiet offensive performance.
That type of bullpen workload Houston would rather avoid, making more length a logical goal for Pecko’s next outing, whenever it occurs. The Astros, who began a stretch of 19 games in 20 days Tuesday, are piecing together their rotation even with 35 games left in their season, making plans difficult to project. Pecko, still, has officially become a factor in them.
“You only get one (debut), and now that I’ve done it, it’s just baseball again,” Pecko said. “So just build off it, work throughout the week and go from there.”