The Houston Astros have gone from being talked about as sellers to looking like a team that could make noise at the trade deadline, and the clearest hole in the roster is starting to stand out.
MLB insider Bob Nightengale of USA Today reported that the Astros “desperately” want to add a starter before the deadline. That lines up with where Houston sits now: after a rough start, the club has climbed back into the race and is just 0.5 games out of a Wild Card spot in the AL.
Nightengale pointed to the Astros’ recent stretch as the reason the conversation has changed. “The Astros, who have gone 26-19 since May 21, desperately want another starter,” he writes. “Their rotation is yielding a 5.29 ERA, second-worst in MLB.”
That kind of production makes the need pretty plain. Houston is back in the mix for the postseason and even within reach of the AL West, but the rotation behind Hunter Brown has not been stable enough. Tatsuya Imai has been inconsistent, and the club can’t count on Spencer Arrighetti, Peter Lambert, Cristian Javier, and others to carry that load the rest of the way.
Starting pitching isn’t the only area on the radar, either. The Astros have already been linked to a left-handed hitting outfielder, with Colorado’s Mickey Moniak and Jake McCarthy mentioned as possible fits. Still, the rotation appears to be the priority if Houston is going to make a real push.
And this may be the right market to need pitching. Freddy Peralta, Robbie Ray, and maybe even Tarik Skubal, Casey Mize, Eduardo Rodriguez, Trevor Rogers, and Michael Wacha could be available this summer.
Dana Brown and the Astros are expected to keep looking at both lefty-hitting outfielders and starting pitchers ahead of the August 3 trade deadline. With Houston back in the hunt, this could end up being one of the more interesting deadline pursuits in the league.
In Other News...
Astros Were Just Tied To A Much Bigger Brewers Concern
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Brandon Woodruffs situation is the one hanging over everything. He has not pitched since July 4, and after a new shoulder issue pushed him to the 60-Day Injured List, the Brewers are still waiting on a second opinion before they can map out anything resembling a return plan. For a team trying to protect a strong first half, the uncertainty around one of its key arms is the kind of concern that can linger well beyond the All-Star break. [Read more 🡒]
Astros Just Got Another Troubling Sign About Their Rotation Depth
The Astros rotation depth took another hit this week when right-hander Mike Burrows landed on the 15-day injured list after being optioned to Triple-A. Houston had hoped the move would give Burrows a chance to regroup, but the club instead had to reverse course and nullify the assignment, leaving another arm unavailable as the team tries to keep its pitching staff intact through the summer stretch.
Burrows is not eligible to return until July 22, and his situation comes on the heels of a similar episode with Kai-Wei Teng just three weeks earlier. For a front office that has already spent real prospect capital to build pitching depth, the repeated injury-related reversals are a reminder that the Astros margin for error on the mound is getting thinner, not wider. [Read more 🡒]
Astros Cannot Cross This Trade Deadline Line
The Astros reached the All-Star break at 47-51, a place they have not been in for years and one that forces a different kind of conversation as the trade deadline approaches. If Houston does decide to listen on veterans, it will be doing so from an unfamiliar position, with the front office having to weigh short-term damage against whatever chance remains to keep the season from slipping away.
Yordan Alvarez is the one player who makes that calculation feel especially dangerous. Even in a down year for the club, he has been one of the leagues most productive hitters and remains under contract through 2028 on a deal that still looks favorable for Houston, which is exactly why moving him would be the kind of move that can haunt a team long after the deadline passes. [Read more 🡒]