HOUSTON \u2013 The new 2026 Astros season begins on Thursday, and expectations are high when it comes to a path back to the postseason. <\/p>\n
Houston was held to only 87 victories in the 2025 campaign, yet they nearly backed their way into the playoffs. This season, they want to return to October baseball, and the road there will depend on their pitching staff. <\/p>\n
The initial 5-man rotation is set, and a glance gives confidence not only within the organization but also among the Astros fan base.<\/p>\n
Earlier this week, Astros manager Joe Espada announced the five arms he\u2019ll start with, but changes could come in April as the Astros open with a significant stretch of games with only two days off. <\/p>\n
It\u2019s a brutal stretch, and the Astros must navigate the process and stack early wins. The rotation features familiar names but also new additions, the club believes can fill needs and produce. <\/p>\n
In 2025, the Astros were dealt big blows on the injury front, so staying healthy is critical as the new season begins. That said, their 2025 numbers, such as a staff ERA of under 4.00 and a high strikeout total that turned heads.<\/p>\n
Now is the time to take it to a level this organization enjoyed from 2015 through 2024. Here\u2019s a look at the starting arms Espada will be counting on.<\/p>\n
HUNTER BROWN is the ace, and there haven\u2019t been any questions about that. Brown, who was third in Cy Young Award voting, was stellar last season, compiling a stat line that included 185 innings, an ERA of 2.43, and going over 200 strikeouts (206) to cap off his impact season. He\u2019s healthy and had a great spring, so now Brown will get the ball on day one against the Angels. Getting a long-term deal in place is also a priority for GM Dana Brown.<\/p>\n
MIKE BURROWS is one of the new pieces they added in the offseason, coming over from the Pittsburgh Pirates. Burrows had a heater in the upper 90\u2019s and is coming off a strong 2025 season where he tossed 96 innings while making 19 starts and turning in an ERA just under four. Burrows pitches with a chip on his shoulder and an edge Espada loves to see. He had a nice spring training, and fans will enjoy what he brings to the rotation.<\/p>\n
CRISTIAN JAVIER is healthy, and that is so good to see. During camp, his velo gradually rose, and now he\u2019s ready for 2026. If Javier can stay off the IL and produce, that will be a huge bonus for this rotation. He\u2019s a veteran and has pitched in a lot of big postseason games for the Astros. Javier is currently third in the rotation as the season begins.<\/p>\n
TATSUYA IMAI was the big addition this offseason, coming over from Japan, where he was a rising star. Now he\u2019s in Houston and in the big leagues, where he expects to make a big impact. Imai had a huge 2025, and from there, his stock rose quickly. Last season, he was a big strikeout guy with 178 produced in his workload that tallied at 163 innings. Watching his outings in spring, this guy has a pitch arsenal that could dominate hitters. He\u2019s got star power, and that\u2019s one reason Japanese media have flocked here. He\u2019ll make his Astros debut on Sunday against the Angels.<\/p>\n
LANCE McCULLERS JR. has been a great story this spring as he\u2019s continued his comeback. Lance made a lot of progress and got his fastball up to the mid-90\u2019s during spring training and Grapefruit League play. The question is, can he stay healthy? That\u2019s been the story the past four seasons. Last year, he battled back to the big leagues, and while his stats were now overpowering, the fact that he made it back was fun to see unfold. Is McCullers the Lance of old? The jury is out on that result, but he did enough to earn a spot in the rotation. Now we\u2019ll see if he can deliver and stay in it. <\/p>\n
The Astros will begin the season with a 5-man rotation, but that will change early in April when they\u2019ll go to a 6-man rotation because of the lack of off days and demand schedule that will be brought in the first month. With that in mind, we will all likely see right-hander Spencer Arrighetti back up in Houston. He\u2019ll start his season in Sugar Land with the Space Cowboys to get in some innings, get prepared, and wait for the call because it will come.<\/p>\n
Astros baseball is back! See you at Daikin Park!<\/p>\n
Copyright 2026 by KPRC Click2Houston – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"HOUSTON \u2013 The new 2026 Astros season begins on Thursday, and expectations are high when it comes to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":639651,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2288],"tags":[42,5,139,54,19,2328,2304,4,2305,2303,9441],"class_list":["post-642404","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mlb-postseason","tag-astros","tag-baseball","tag-houston","tag-houston-astros","tag-major-league-baseball","tag-major-league-baseball-playoffs","tag-major-league-baseball-postseason","tag-mlb","tag-mlb-playoffs","tag-mlb-postseason","tag-starting-pitching"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/642404","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=642404"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/642404\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/639651"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=642404"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=642404"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=642404"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}