In an interview on SportsTalk790 radio today, Astros general manager Dana Brown said right-handers Hunter Brown and Cristian Javier are tentatively expected to return to Houston’s rotation by late May or early June. (Hat tip to MLB.com’s Brian McTaggart for the link.) The timeline for both pitchers is still fluid, so the GM thinks their returns could “hopefully…be a little sooner.”
The Astros are probably due some good health news, given how the team has been hit hard by injuries in the season’s first month. Houston’s injury list consists of 14 players, and Brown and Javier are two of 10 pitchers on either the 15-day or 60-day IL. The depleted and makeshift rotation is down to Mike Burrows, Lance McCullers Jr., Spencer Arrighetti, and Peter Lambert, whose minor league contract was just selected on Thursday (Lambert then allowed four runs over five innings in Friday’s 9-4 loss to the Cardinals.)
Brown and Javier were each sidelined by Grade 2 shoulder strains. Brown posted an 0.84 ERA over his first two starts before being placed on the 15-day IL on April 2, while Javier joined him a week later after struggling to a 12.54 ERA over his first three starts and 9 1/3 innings. No tentative recovery timelines were given at the time of the IL placements, and neither pitcher has resumed throwing, which is why Dana Brown’s projection was fairly broad.
Assuming no setbacks, Brown and Javier each face the standard build-up process of playing catch, bullpen sessions, live batting practice sessions, and surely at least a couple of minor league rehab games given the length of their IL stints. Even if the best-case scenario is late May, however, that still means the Astros will be scrambling for rotation innings for upwards of another month.
All of the injuries have unsurprisingly led to a rough start to Houston’s season, as the team is now 8-15 after today’s extra-innings 7-5 loss to St. Louis. The Astros are 10 games into a stretch of 13 games in 13 days, and some relief may come for the pitching staff in terms of off-days on April 23 and 27.