{"id":664950,"date":"2026-04-05T17:34:21","date_gmt":"2026-04-05T17:34:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/664950\/"},"modified":"2026-04-05T17:34:21","modified_gmt":"2026-04-05T17:34:21","slug":"astros-dealt-tough-hunter-brown-news-before-athletics-game","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/664950\/","title":{"rendered":"Astros Dealt Tough Hunter Brown News Before Athletics Game"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\t\t\t\t<img width=\"780\" height=\"520\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-2268513926.jpg\" class=\"attachment-featured-image size-featured-image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\"   decoding=\"async\" fetchpriority=\"high\"\/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGetty\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>HOUSTON, TEXAS &#8211; MARCH 26: Manager Joe Espada #19 of the Houston Astros takes the ball from Hunter Brown #58 in the fifth inning against the Los Angeles Angels on Opening Day at Daikin Park on March 26, 2026 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Tim Warner\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n<p>The <a class=\"wpil_keyword_link\" title=\"Houston Astros\" href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/sports\/mlb\/houston-astros\/\" data-wpil-keyword-link=\"linked\" data-wpil-monitor-id=\"215600\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Houston Astros<\/a> are currently taking on the Athletics in a three-game set. The rubber match is set for 4:10 p.m. EST on Sunday.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/astros\/status\/2040838629661020603?s=20\" rel=\"nofollow\">Per the team\u2019s social media account<\/a>, ace starter <a class=\"wpil_keyword_link\" href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/mlb\/player\/hunter-brown\/\" title=\"Hunter Brown\" data-wpil-keyword-link=\"linked\" data-wpil-monitor-id=\"215607\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Hunter Brown<\/a> is headed to the 15-day Injured List with a right shoulder sprain. The move is retroactive to April 2, and the corresponding move is calling up RHP <a class=\"wpil_keyword_link\" href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/mlb\/player\/christian-roa\/\" title=\"Christian Roa\" data-wpil-keyword-link=\"linked\" data-wpil-monitor-id=\"215608\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Christian Roa<\/a> from Triple-A to fill Brown\u2019s spot on the active roster.<\/p>\n<p>Houston is off to a strong start this season, sitting at 6-3, and atop the AL West.<\/p>\n<p>More <a class=\"wpil_keyword_link\" title=\"MLB\" href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/sports\/mlb\/\" data-wpil-keyword-link=\"linked\" data-wpil-monitor-id=\"215601\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">MLB<\/a> on Heavy: <a href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/sports\/mlb\/new-york-mets\/mets-predicted-to-sign-former-yankees-controversial-infielder-dj-lemahieu\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Mets Predicted to Sign Former Yankees Controversial Infielder<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Astos Rotation Gets Tough News After Hunter Brown Injury<br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-5883316\" class=\"size-inline wp-image-5883316\" data-lazy-load=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1775410460_550_GettyImages-2268513926.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"782\" height=\"521\"  \/><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-5883316\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">GettyHOUSTON, TEXAS \u2013 MARCH 26: Manager Joe Espada #19 of the Houston Astros takes the ball from Hunter Brown #58 in the fifth inning against the <a class=\"wpil_keyword_link\" title=\"Los Angeles Angels\" href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/sports\/mlb\/los-angeles-angels\/\" data-wpil-keyword-link=\"linked\" data-wpil-monitor-id=\"215598\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Los Angeles Angels<\/a> on Opening Day at Daikin Park on March 26, 2026 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Tim Warner\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n<p>This injury news is tough for the Astros, who will call on the depth of their starting rotation over the next couple of weeks. Brown will likely miss (at minimum) his next 2-3 starts.<\/p>\n<p>He\u2019s made two starts this season and has collected 17 strikeouts in 10.2 innings pitched.<\/p>\n<p>Hunter Brown was a force in MLB last season. In 31 starts and 185.1 innings, the dominant right-hander boasted an ERA o<a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/b\/brownhu01.shtml\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">f 2.43 and tallied 200+ strikeouts.<\/a> 2026 marks his fifth season in MLB, and Brown has a career earned run average of 3.44 over 94 total starts. He finished third in American League CY Young voting as well.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-5883330\" class=\"size-inline wp-image-5883330\" data-lazy-load=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-2269302795.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"782\" height=\"521\"  \/><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-5883330\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">GettyHOUSTON, TEXAS \u2013 MARCH 31: Hunter Brown #58 of the Houston Astros pitches in the first inning against the <a class=\"wpil_keyword_link\" title=\"Boston Red Sox\" href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/sports\/mlb\/boston-red-sox\/\" data-wpil-keyword-link=\"linked\" data-wpil-monitor-id=\"215599\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Boston Red Sox<\/a> at Daikin Park on March 31, 2026 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Tim Warner\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n<p>More MLB on Heavy: <a href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/sports\/mlb\/atlanta-braves\/braves-bryce-elder-stellar-start-to-2026-season-turns-heads-across-mlb\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Atlanta Braves\u2019 Bryce Elder 13 Innings Scoreless Streak to Start Season Turns Heads Across MLB<\/a><\/p>\n<p>What\u2019s Next for Astros After Hunter Brown IL Stint<\/p>\n<p>The Houston Astros may want to consider heading to the external market to pick up an additional starter.<\/p>\n<p>The hope is that Hunter Brown doesn\u2019t have to miss extended time, but being that he\u2019s the ace of the staff, the Stros will be relying on names like Tatsuya Imai (who has fit right in pitching in MLB), Lance McCullers Jr., Christian Javier, and <a class=\"wpil_keyword_link\" href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/mlb\/player\/michael-burrows\/\" title=\"Mike Burrows\" data-wpil-keyword-link=\"linked\" data-wpil-monitor-id=\"215606\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Mike Burrows<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbssports.com\/fantasy\/baseball\/news\/astros-hunter-brown-lands-on-il-with-shoulder-strain\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Here\u2019s CBSSports assessment<\/a> of the Brown injury, as they were quick to the news shortly after the \u00a0Astros made the announcement.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe right-hander presumably sustained the injury during his previous start versus Boston on Tuesday, when he picked up his first win of the season after striking out eight and giving up one run on a hit and two walks over six innings. Brown will be eligible to be reinstated in mid-April, but it wouldn\u2019t be surprising if a shoulder issue necessitates a longer absence.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>More MLB on Heavy: <a href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/sports\/mlb\/new-york-mets\/mets-get-juan-soto-decision-for-giants-game-after-calf-injury\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Mets Get Juan Soto Decision For Giants Game After Calf Injury<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\n\t\t\tMore Heavy on Astros\n\t\t<\/p>\n<p>\n\t\t\t\tLoading more stories\n\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty HOUSTON, TEXAS &#8211; MARCH 26: Manager Joe Espada #19 of the Houston Astros takes the ball from&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":664951,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2389],"tags":[42,5,139,54,3211,4],"class_list":{"0":"post-664950","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-houston-astros","8":"tag-astros","9":"tag-baseball","10":"tag-houston","11":"tag-houston-astros","12":"tag-houstonastros","13":"tag-mlb"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/116353309503857617","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/664950","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=664950"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/664950\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/664951"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=664950"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=664950"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=664950"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}