The Houston Astros traded right-hander Nate Pearson to the Kansas City Royals for minor-league pitcher Max Martin on Wednesday, the teams announced.
Pearson was designated for assignment Sunday by the Astros, who had seven days to either trade him or place him on waivers. He had a 3.60 ERA in 16 relief outings for Houston after starting the season on the injured list recovering from elbow soreness.
Martin, 22, is a 6-foot-5 right-hander drafted in the 10th round by the Royals in 2025 from UC Irvine. He has pitched as a reliever in the Royals system and had a 2.01 ERA in 40⅓ innings this season in A-ball, including a 1.40 ERA in 12 outings at High-A Quad Cities.
Pearson was among a series of pitching additions made last offseason by Houston and general manager Dana Brown. The Astros acquired six pitchers in major-league free agency (Tatsuya Imai, Ryan Weiss, Pearson), trades (Mike Burrows, Kai-Wei Teng) or the Rule 5 draft (Roddery Muñoz).
Entering Sunday, those six pitchers had combined for a 5.73 ERA in 260⅔ major-league innings for the Astros. None has remained on the active roster all season. Weiss, Pearson and Muñoz were designated for assignment. Burrows was optioned to Triple-A before Houston nullified that move and placed him on the major-league IL. Imai and Teng are currently on the active roster.
Pearson, 29, has a 4.99 ERA in 139 career major-league appearances, all but six in relief. In his 20 innings with the Astros, he posted a 1.40 WHIP with 16 hits allowed, 12 walks and 16 strikeouts.