A wiseman once said, “hard times make for stronger bonds,” and the Houston Astros seem to be trying their level best to prove him wrong. After placing Hunter Brown on the IL, GM Dana Brown had some choice words about why he may have hit the IL.

Dana Brown said, “I just found it fascinating that he was 96–98 (mph) in spring training… I’d have liked to see him dial it back.”

Hunter Brown responded to this saying, “It’s unfortunate… My job is to put myself in a position to be successful when the season comes around, and that’s exactly what I tried to do.”

The Houston Astros placed Hunter Brown on the injured list with a Grade 2 shoulder strain after two starts. He threw 102 pitches on Opening Day against the Los Angeles Angels, which was the highest for an opening day starter. Just 3 days after his 2nd start, the coaching staff told the pitcher to stop in the throwing sessions after he felt some pain and discomfort.

Manager Joe Espada came out and said that he will not be throwing for 2 weeks, and a return date was also not given.

Before this, Hunter Brown came into 2026 looking strong. In Spring Training, Brown had an ERA of 2.84 with 20 Ks in 4 games. His fastballs were also zooming past batters at 96-98 MPH. He pitched 180 pitches in his first 2 starts, showing the heavy load his arm took.

And after hitting the IL, the Astros have gone 1-9 on the road, showing the dependency the team had on him coming into the season.

The question started to pop up after GM Dana Brown made comments when the pitcher was placed on the IL. Dana Brown said, “I would have liked to see a little slower buildup,” hinting that his high velocity pitches might have been the reason for this injury.

But at the same time, he clearly said there is no proof that this caused the injury. Still, those comments raised questions because Brown got hurt. Because many fans started to question the GM as to what he was doing during the Spring Training, if he didn’t like how Brown was going all out.

But Hunter Brown says that he views this differently and stood by what he said during Spring Training. He said he followed the same routine he always has and did nothing new. He also said his job is to be ready for the very first game of the season.

What makes this injury worse is when you look back at how impactful Hunter Brown was to the Astros pitching rotation. He finished 2025 with an ERA of 2.43 and 206 strikeouts. He also finished 3rd in the Cy Young rankings behind only Tarik Skubal and Garrett Crochet. But Hunter Brown is not the only problem the Astros are facing in the bullpen.

The Astros have more problems than they think

The Houston Astros went through a 7-game losing streak in April despite scoring well in most games. By April 14, they had already placed 6 players on the injured list, which is very early in the season.

That list included Hunter Brown, who made 3 starts before going down with a shoulder strain. Brown is expected to miss at least 2 weeks, which leaves a big gap in the rotation. The slide became clear after a 14-2 loss, where the pitching gave up runs early again.

The injuries kept piling up as Tatsuya Imai and Jeremy Pena were added within 2 days. Before that, Cristian Javier and Jake Meyers had already gone on the injured list. The team had also started the year without Josh Hader and Nate Pearson.

Three more pitchers, including Ronel Blanco, are still out from injuries last year. The biggest losses here are Brown, Peña, Hader, and Javier, who are key players.

Even with all these injuries, the Astros are still scoring runs and staying in games. But the pitching has been the main problem, giving up more than 6 runs per game.

Their fastballs have been getting hit hard, with a -20.3 mark, which is the worst in the league. Players like Cody Bolton and Colton Gordon have not been able to hold things together. In one stretch, the starters could not go deep, which forced the bullpen to work extra innings.

To deal with this, Houston is likely to call up arms like Spencer Arrighetti from Triple-A soon. Right now, the plan is simple: go with whoever is pitching well in the moment. The bullpen has also struggled, with a -1.3 WAR, and Bryan Abreu holding a double-digit ERA. Josh Hader could return soon, but he has not pitched since last August.

If this stretch continues, their playoff chances could drop by around 22%.

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