Reviewing the Starting Pitching Injuries in a Brutal Astros Season

If at the beginning of the season we told you the Astros would be fighting for a Wild Card spot in the last week of the season despite having as many as 18 players on the IL at once and losing most of their pitching staff (and their closer) to injury, you’d probably think this was a miracle season. You would demand Joe Espada be named AL Manager of the Year and probably be boasting about what an incredible season it has been, make or miss the postseason.

That thirty-thousand-foot-view is fine for people who don’t follow the team every day, but for hardcore fans, this season has been a disappointment. Watching the offense struggle game after game is brutal. But, far more difficult has been seeing pitchers constantly coming through the revolving door bullpen with injuries.

Here is a list of every starting pitcher for the Astros still on the active roster who remains in the starting rotation (J.P. France and Colton Gordon are now pitching only in relief).

Hunter Brown
One of the best pitchers in the AL and the Astros ace with over 180 innings pitched.

Framber Valdez
Still a solid starter, but numbers have fallen off over the second half of the season.

Cristian Javier
Looks good back from surgery last year. Has thrown over 37 innings since returning.

Jason Alexander
Claimed off waivers in May, Alexander (with one recent exception) has been outstanding.

AJ Blubaugh
Rookie pitcher has been in and out of the starting rotation, but shows promise for 2026.

Now, here are the starting pitchers who are not on the active roster.

Luis Garcia
Threw in just two games after two years missed due to surgery will now miss all of 2026 with elbow surgery.

Spencer Arrighetti
Missed a chunk of the season with a broken thumb on a fluke accident, now out for the season, possibly longer, with elbow inflammation.

Ronel Blanco
Missed most of the season (after nine starts) and will likely miss most of 2026 due to Tommy John surgery.

Hayden Wesneski
After just six starts, needed Tommy John surgery and will miss most if not all of 2026.

Lance McCullers, Jr.
Plagued with injuries over the last several seasons, McCullers only pitched a handful of games before being shelved for the year with other injury issues. The last year of his huge contract is 2026.

Brandon Walter
The promising young lefty became the fourth pitcher for the Astros this year to undergo Tommy John surgery. He could miss all of 2026.

None of this factors in the relievers — Josh Hader chief among them — who have battled their own injury problems this season or position players like Isaac Paredes and Yordan Alvarez.

The fact is, this has been an absolutely devastating year from an injury standpoint and it really should be a shock to fans that the Astros are even remotely in the hunt for a playoff spot given the incredible misfortune this season.

One thing is certain, however. This team (and baseball probably in general) needs to evaluate how it deals with pitching injuries because whatever is going on right now is ridiculous.

This article appears in Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2025.

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