The MLB regular season isn’t even two weeks old, and the Houston Astros have suffered a huge blow already. One of the starting arms has suffered an injury after pitching only 10.2 innings. Panic ripples through the fan base as fans recognize a familiar pattern about the Astros rotation.
The Houston Astros released a statement on April 5 about a roster move resulting from an RHP suffering a right shoulder strain. Hunter Brown has been put on the injury list retroactive to April 2. For now, he will be on a 15-day IL as Christian Roa from Triple-A will replace him on the roster.
The 27-year-old starter signed a 1-year, $5.71 million contract with the Astros for 2026. The 2025 AL Cy Young finalist is under team control through 2028, entering arbitration in 2029. He started for Houston on Opening Day, pitching 4.2 innings, and then pitched 6 innings against the Red Sox on April 1.
Brown felt an issue in his shoulder on April 3, and the team announced his replacement 2 days after. What concerns us is that this is not the first blow Houston has suffered. In fact, they have heavily struggled with injuries last year as well.
We have made the following roster move: pic.twitter.com/Vf6U0cTrPm
— Houston Astros (@astros) April 5, 2026
Ronel Blanco had a breakout season in 2024, but he was out in 2025 after only 9 starts. Hayden Wesneski suffered the same fate after only 6 starts in the last season. Luis Garcia had his first Tommy John surgery in 2023, and after returning, he once again reinjured himself after just two games.
It became worse with a few fresh injuries involving Josh Hader (bicep) and Nate Pearson (elbow) early in the season. With the IL list increasing almost every other day, Brown was seen as the ace-level RHP to carry the season, but that hope has now been put on hold with his injury.
Although it’s just a shoulder strain, fans fear that it might be much worse. Houston has had a bad history with injuries, and people have already started sharing their concerns.
Astros fans fear the worst as Hunter Brown’s injury reminds them of a familiar cycle
“Hoping it’s nothing too serious,” one fan commented. People have their fingers crossed that Hunter Brown’s strain would not keep him out for more than 15 days.
“THIS BETTER BE A LATE APRIL FOOLS DAY PRANK,” wrote one user.
Injuries are quite common with pitchers for every team, but Houston suffers too much and too frequently. The fans are in disbelief with their luck and are hoping the update is a hoax.
“Not the injury bug again,” read another comment.
The Astros had at least 15 pitchers injured last year, and 8 of them were starters. 4 starters have already been sidelined this year, including Brown. This feels like bad voodoo for the franchise.
“Brown threw 102 pitches on Opening Day — the most by any starter in the sport — and made his start on Tuesday with four days of rest. Brown made just five starts last season on four days’ rest INSANITY!” ranted one fan.
Hunter threw 180 pitches in his first two starts, which is unusually high. He pitched in 31 games in 2025 while fit, and there are only 5 instances of him starting games with only four days of rest. The fan implied that his injury might have stemmed from mismanagement.
“Every year. It’s every single year. The medical/training staff is complete trash,” another fan reacted.
Houston’s pitchers suffering from injury has become a pattern. And some people directly accuse the staff of not handling the players properly. FanGraphs analytics suggest that the Astros have 17.6 WAR in 2025, the highest in the league. Their starting pitchers alone lost 930 total games to injury last year. Fans refuse to believe that these are just coincidences.
2025 was seen as a disaster (injury-wise) for the franchise, and if Hunter Brown’s injury worsens, 2026 could also be tough. The Astros are still in playoff contention, having lost three of their first nine games, securing 2 series so far. The fans might be overreacting, but the problem isn’t easy to ignore.
