While Hayden Wesneski had his roughest outing Saturday in four starts since returning from Tommy John surgery, he said his stuff against Seattle was “probably the best it’s been.”
Jason Fochtman/Houston Chronicle
After a trade deadline at which the Houston Astros did not add pitching, general manager Dana Brown offered a platitude. The recent return of right-handers Ronel Blanco and Hayden Wesneski from elbow surgeries could be “in itself like a trade acquisition” to help stabilize their rotation, Brown suggested.
The observation oozed optimism. Meanwhile, the Astros’ inaction on the pitching front did promise to magnify the performance of internal reinforcements down the stretch.
With 38 games to play in the regular season, no larger uncertainty exists for a first-place Houston club than its rotation. What risk lay in not fortifying it at the deadline has hardly lessened in the nearly two weeks since, underscored by the Astros’ handling of their options this weekend against the Mariners.
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To line up their three most reliable starters against Seattle, the Astros bypassed Blanco and moved up Wesneski to pitch Saturday on four days’ rest. Blanco sat in the bullpen Saturday. So did Cristian Javier. Tatsuya Imai was unavailable after pitching in bulk relief Wednesday in San Francisco.
Those are three of the six starting candidates on Houston’s active roster. Off days on either side of the Mariners series offered some flexibility with the rotation plans, but a 10-5 loss Saturday reinforced questions of how the Astros will proceed with one of the pitchers Brown tabbed for reliability.
BATTERS
AVG
OBA
AB
R
H
2B
3B
HR
RBI
BB
SO
SB
CS
E
Team Totals
.244
.319
4181
574
1020
183
13
166
547
416
1002
40
17
55
Alvarez
.321
.436
442
82
142
25
0
36
88
86
91
1
0
2
Peña
.288
.344
302
58
87
14
1
13
39
21
67
8
1
9
Correa
.279
.369
122
22
34
8
0
3
16
18
26
1
0
1
Delgado
.273
.314
33
3
9
1
0
1
4
2
5
0
0
2
Paredes
.260
.350
431
47
112
21
1
16
67
46
69
0
0
6
Shewmake
.256
.272
78
10
20
4
0
3
9
2
13
0
0
2
Allen
.255
.298
110
19
28
4
0
1
12
7
24
2
0
5
Diaz
.251
.280
227
25
57
9
0
8
28
9
37
0
1
2
Altuve
.245
.307
380
56
93
15
2
13
36
33
84
4
2
5
Walker
.236
.314
441
61
104
24
1
23
71
42
114
0
0
0
Harris
.226
.286
31
4
7
0
1
0
4
2
6
2
0
0
Trammell
.224
.315
174
26
39
6
2
7
20
19
61
3
3
2
Smith
.223
.292
400
53
89
15
3
16
45
35
109
10
2
5
Wade
.218
.344
78
11
17
4
0
2
15
15
19
0
0
0
Vázquez
.216
.271
208
20
45
7
0
6
24
16
43
1
0
0
Loperfido
.216
.314
102
13
22
7
1
1
12
14
31
1
1
1
Meyers
.213
.268
141
15
30
7
0
3
11
10
31
1
2
0
Dezenzo
.213
.280
75
11
16
4
0
1
3
7
31
1
0
1
Matthews
.197
.250
208
23
41
5
1
7
22
15
71
4
4
1
Price
.167
.231
12
1
2
1
0
0
0
1
6
0
0
1
Spence
.162
.244
37
4
6
1
0
0
3
3
15
0
1
1
Cole
.157
.189
51
4
8
1
0
3
8
1
21
0
0
1
Varsho
.150
.261
40
3
6
0
0
1
3
6
10
1
0
0
Johnson
.143
.294
14
1
2
0
0
0
0
2
3
0
0
0
Whitcomb
.130
.167
23
2
3
0
0
2
5
1
11
0
0
0
Salazar
.056
.227
18
0
1
0
0
0
1
3
3
0
0
0
Velázquez
.000
.000
3
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
1
0
0
0
___
PITCHERS
W
L
ERA
G
GS
SV
IP
H
R
ER
HR
BB
SO
Team Totals
63
61
4.60
124
124
38
1100.1
985
603
562
165
510
1082
Meyers
0
0
0.00
1
0
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
Hader
4
1
0.93
30
0
17
29
12
3
3
1
10
40
Santa
0
1
1.17
10
0
0
15.1
8
6
2
1
6
9
VanWey
1
0
1.50
5
0
0
6
5
2
1
0
0
5
Okert
6
1
2.08
60
1
0
60.2
40
15
14
6
12
61
Lambert
8
6
3.11
21
21
0
118.2
91
42
41
12
46
117
Sousa
0
1
3.46
16
0
0
13
11
7
5
1
7
15
Blubaugh
4
2
3.48
46
0
1
75
58
31
29
10
33
77
Pearson
1
0
3.60
16
0
1
20
16
10
8
1
12
16
Brown
3
2
3.68
12
12
0
63.2
46
28
26
8
35
67
King
2
3
3.88
49
1
6
51
51
24
22
7
19
42
De Los Santos
2
3
4.24
54
0
5
57.1
54
31
27
7
13
53
Teng
5
6
4.35
25
10
0
68.1
62
37
33
10
30
67
Abreu
4
3
4.50
47
0
7
44
31
24
22
7
32
57
Arrighetti
7
5
4.60
17
17
0
88
68
47
45
12
50
87
Wesneski
2
1
5.16
4
4
0
22.2
23
13
13
2
7
18
Roa
0
1
5.19
7
0
0
8.2
10
5
5
1
7
6
Imai
6
4
5.29
17
15
0
64.2
53
38
38
9
42
80
Bolton
0
1
5.40
8
3
1
20
21
12
12
3
14
22
Ullola
0
0
5.40
3
0
0
5
4
3
3
2
1
7
Burrows
4
9
5.99
18
17
0
94.2
112
69
63
21
35
75
Javier
1
3
6.68
10
6
0
32.1
39
24
24
6
16
25
McCullers
2
3
6.86
8
8
0
39.1
38
32
30
7
22
43
Murray
0
0
7.43
8
0
0
13.1
19
11
11
1
7
8
Weiss
0
3
7.62
9
2
0
26
35
24
22
8
20
30
Blanco
0
1
7.71
5
4
0
23.1
22
20
20
7
12
20
France
0
0
8.10
3
0
0
6.2
6
6
6
1
5
4
Salazar
0
0
9.00
1
0
0
1
1
1
1
1
0
0
Alexander
1
1
9.33
4
2
0
18.1
21
19
19
4
8
14
Gordon
0
0
11.57
4
1
0
9.1
21
12
12
6
3
11
Muñoz
0
0
15.75
3
0
0
4
7
7
7
3
6
6
Both Wesneski and Blanco pitched Saturday, itself a deviation from the ideal Brown presented. Both emerged with similar lines, though under different circumstances.
Wesneski pitched on four days’ rest for the first time since his return. He had thrown seven innings Monday in San Francisco, albeit on an economical 83 pitches. His first three outings back from surgery had yielded a 3.86 ERA and two quality starts.
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Even on regular rest, which he downplayed, Wesneski deemed his stuff Saturday “probably the best it’s been.” His four-seamer averaged an extra tick of velocity, an encouraging sign. He thought his slider had “bite to it” and his changeup performed better.
The Mariners, still, managed five runs against him in four innings. Four scored in a second inning which proved difficult to stem. Julio Rodríguez lined a cutter for a leadoff single. Josh Naylor singled on a two-strike fastball well above the zone. Cole Young’s chopper eluded Wesneski for an infield hit.
Manager Joe Espada deemed the latter “the big play in that game,” driving in a run and accelerating the inning. Victor Robles hit a sinker for a triple that glanced off the glove of sliding center fielder Daulton Varsho. Brendan Donovan beat another fastball well above the zone for a two-out RBI single.
“Looking back on it, I didn’t think they were bad pitches,” Wesneski said. “They did a good job putting it in play and strung a few hits together. Part of baseball. A few pitches I could have changed up and thrown something different, but not a whole lot of regret throwing the pitches I threw and the intensity behind it.”
Wesneski threw 81 pitches in four innings before Espada relieved him. The right-hander still has worked at least 5 ⅔ in three of four starts. More concerning, perhaps, are Blanco’s initial results.
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Ronel Blanco has given up seven homers in 23 ⅓ innings since returning from the injured list, including a three-run homer that put Saturday’s game out of reach.
Jason Fochtman/Houston Chronicle
Blanco, pitching after a seven-day hiatus, worked the final four innings for Houston, also allowing five runs. He owns a 7.71 ERA in 23 ⅓ innings since his return. Blanco has allowed 22 hits in that span, seven of them home runs, including a three-run homer by Cole Young in the ninth inning Saturday.
That came in the wake of Isaac Paredes’ two-run home run in the eighth, which pared the Astros’ deficit to three runs, and effectively quashed any hopes of a comeback. Blanco had also allowed an RBI double to Brock Rodden and an RBI single to Donovan in the top of the eighth.
“Just missed out over the plate too much,” Espada said. “A ton of strikes, which that’s what he does, and it was nice to see because he’d been kind of struggling with a few walks in his last few outings … Just kind of creating more swing-and-miss, I think we need that out of Blanco.”
Blanco, who buoyed the Astros’ rotation in 2024, entered Saturday with a 30.2 career whiff rate in the majors and a 26.1% rate this season. Young’s home run was the fifth hit this season against his slider or curveball; he allowed five homers total against those pitches in 167 ⅓ innings in 2024.
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Blanco did induce six whiffs on 17 swings against his changeup Saturday while throwing it on 42% of his 59 pitches. Espada said he believes “the pitches are there” for Blanco, but he needs “more consistency getting away from the heart of the plate.”
His standing in the rotation may require it, though other options for a depth-starved roster are limited. Javier had his turn skipped, as well, this series. Mike Burrows will make at least one more rehab start in his recovery from elbow neuritis. Imai’s inconsistency looms.
Hunter Brown will take the mound for Sunday’s series finale against the Mariners, with Houston holding a two-game AL West lead over the Rangers and five games over Seattle. An off day awaits Monday, then more decisions on how to deploy its arms.
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