{"id":400716,"date":"2026-08-08T00:14:09","date_gmt":"2026-08-08T00:14:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/400716\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T00:14:09","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T00:14:09","slug":"houston-astros-rotation-depth-tested-again-after-missing-on-trades","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/400716\/","title":{"rendered":"Houston Astros rotation depth tested again after missing on trades"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Houston<\/p>\n

Houston Astros starting pitcher Ronel Blanco throws against the Texas Rangers during the first inning of a baseball game Saturday, Aug. 1, 2026, in Houston. (AP Photo\/David J. Phillip)<\/p>\n

David J. Phillip\/Associated Press\"The<\/p>\n

The Astros’\u00a0Hayden Wesneski had his second straight strong start in his return from Tommy John surgery, holding the Blue Jays to two runs in six innings Tuesday.<\/p>\n

Alex Slitz\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

SAN DIEGO\u00a0\u2014 Deterred by asking prices and optimistic about internal options, the Houston Astros<\/a> did not augment their pitching staff before a trade deadline.<\/p>\n

Those internal reinforcements did arrive, but their performance down the stretch underwhelmed, and it contributed to the Astros missing the playoffs.<\/p>\n

That was last year. After this year\u2019s deadline unfolded similarly, with no additions on the pitching front<\/a>, Houston\u2019s aspirations to return to the postseason may hinge on its tenuous rotation avoiding a reprise.<\/p>\n

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After making one deadline trade to acquire center fielder Daulton Varsho<\/a>, general manager Dana Brown said last week the Astros \u201cfelt like we got close\u201d in their pursuit of pitching help, but they made no deals there while weighing \u201cwhat it\u2019s going to do to your prospect capital and the future of the organization.\u201d<\/p>\n

JEFF BAGWELL: How Astros star fought alcoholism, got sober<\/a><\/p>\n

It echoed a year ago, when the Astros balked at asking prices that were \u201ctoo high\u201d for pitching, as Brown said then, and focused on adding to their lineup. Erratic offense did prove arguably the main reason they missed the playoffs by a win, but the stretch run also illustrated the risk in their rotation approach.<\/p>\n

Houston placed an onus on pitchers returning from surgeries\u00a0\u2014 Cristian Javier and Luis Garcia, who were both coming back from Tommy John procedures; Spencer Arrighetti <\/a>in his return from a thumb fracture; and for depth J.P. France<\/a> returning from shoulder surgery\u00a0\u2014 to fortify its major-league rotation.<\/p>\n

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Of that group, Javier alone remained in the rotation for the final two months and posted uneven results. Arrighetti made five starts before an elbow issue ended his season, Garcia made two starts before he re-injured his elbow and France returned late in the year for a brief appearance as a reliever.<\/p>\n

Again, this year, the Astros are positioned to rely on two pitchers who just returned from elbow surgeries\u00a0\u2014 Ronel Blanco and Hayden Wesneski<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 to hold rotation spots. Both are already taking regular turns, with little experienced depth behind them if any issues arise.<\/p>\n

Wesneski\u2019s first two starts back have been encouraging. He has a 3.86 ERA and threw 5\u2154 and 6 innings in them, despite totaling fewer than 80 pitches in both. Manager Joe Espada said after Wesneski\u2019s outing Tuesday he is keeping the right-hander around 80-85 pitches initially \u201cbefore we can extend the leash.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut his stuff is good, the velo is there, breaking pitches have the action that we\u2019re looking for,\u201d Espada said. \u201cSo he\u2019s checking all the boxes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Blanco, slated to start Friday\u2019s opener against the Padres in his fourth start back, had a 7.36 ERA in his first three outings. He fell short of completing five innings in two of them, while allowing five home runs and eight walks in those 14\u2154\u00a0 innings.<\/p>\n

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Brown, in an appearance Wednesday on the Astros\u2019 flagship radio station 790 AM, voiced optimism that Blanco is \u201cgoing to get back to the old Blanco.\u201d Brown also suggested, however, the Astros could \u201crotate him and (Tatsuya) Imai out at times, just to get him built back up.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOnce you come off these injuries, sometimes it\u2019s really tough to get your rhythm and consistency,\u201d said Brown. \u201cSo we\u2019ll monitor it closely with the (40-plus) games that we have left. But there\u2019s an opportunity that maybe we could put him in the pen for three or four innings, kind of like we\u2019re doing with Imai.\u201d<\/p>\n

Since moving Imai to the bullpen<\/a> last weekend, the Astros have remained vague about their plans for the right-hander down the stretch. Imai entered one game against Toronto in relief and worked three perfect innings. Espada said Tuesday that Imai was \u201cbeing considered\u201d for a start on this road trip.<\/p>\n

Brown, in his radio appearance, said the Astros \u201cfeel like at some point (Imai)\u2019ll be back in the rotation.\u201d Plugging him back in amid a playoff push would only magnify the pressure on Imai and the Astros\u2019 staff to rein in the inconsistency that has defined his first MLB season\u00a0\u2014 and do so while the stakes increase.<\/p>\n

Imai has cruised at times, but his tendency to derail early risks a toll on Houston\u2019s bullpen. If the plan is to rotate him back into occasional starts, having a stretched-out arm behind him could offer coverage\u00a0\u2014 be it Blanco or someone else\u00a0\u2014 but still carries uncertainty unless the Astros commit to a piggyback idea.<\/p>\n

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After his relief outing against the Blue Jays, Imai said he was alerted before the game he would likely be used after Javier ended his start and for multiple innings. The Astros trailed when he entered, however, leaving open the question of whether they would have handled the late innings differently with a lead.<\/p>\n

Amid all of the rotation machinations, perhaps no pitcher has the chance to be more pivotal than Javier.<\/p>\n

Javier, the highest-paid pitcher on Houston\u2019s roster, struggled in three starts before missing three months to a shoulder strain, then was stowed in the bullpen. He has a 6.59 ERA in 27\u2153 innings, but his last two outings comprised five scoreless relief innings in Anaheim and a quality start against Toronto.<\/p>\n

Only others\u2019 struggles have put Javier back in a position to start, yet none of the Astros\u2019 other options to fill out the rotation have his experience. Javier resembling his pre-surgery form could bolster the middle of the rotation behind Hunter Brown and Peter Lambert and ease the demand on the pitchers above.<\/p>\n

The depth Dana Brown lauded this spring has dwindled. Trading Arrighetti for Varsho depleted it further, though Arrighetti was on the injured list. Mike Burrows is rehabbing from elbow neuritis, with no projected return date. Erstwhile starter Kai-Wei Teng is pitching as a reliever at Triple-A Sugar Land.<\/p>\n

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Houston just promoted pitching prospect Bryce Mayer to Triple-A, where he joins fellow prospect Ethan Pecko, forming perhaps a next wave of starting depth. Delving into it during a stretch run would double as an admission by the Astros of diminished faith in their options with major-league experience.<\/p>\n

Entering Friday, the Astros still had the majors\u2019 third-highest rotation ERA. The group sported a 5.16 ERA since May 22, when Houston began a pivot from being 11 games under .500 to two games over with a 1-\u00bd game division lead. Sustaining the latter, again, will fall to arms already in place.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Houston Astros starting pitcher Ronel Blanco throws against the Texas Rangers during the first inning of a baseball…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":400717,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[56,58,57],"class_list":["post-400716","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-houston","tag-houston","tag-houston-headlines","tag-houston-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/400716","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=400716"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/400716\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/400717"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=400716"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=400716"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=400716"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}