The Astros are set to get Hayden Wesneski back on Wednesday, with the right-hander scheduled to start the series finale in Anaheim after being activated from the 60-day injured list.
Houston already has an open spot on the 40-man roster, so the move only requires a pitcher to be optioned to make room on the active roster.
For Wesneski, this is a return to an MLB mound for the first time in 14 months. The Astros picked him up from the Cubs as a secondary piece in the Kyle Tucker deal, and he opened the ’25 season with six starts before the injury hit. In that stretch, he threw 32 innings and posted a 4.50 ERA before undergoing Tommy John surgery last May.
The rehab path has gone well. Wesneski started a minor league rehab assignment within 13 months and has looked strong throughout the ramp-up.
Across 20 innings, he’s put up a 2.25 ERA with 21 strikeouts and four walks. His latest outing came Friday against Milwaukee’s Triple-A affiliate, when he worked 4 1/3 scoreless innings, struck out seven and got up to 80 pitches.
That should put him in position to handle at least 4-5 innings in his first big league appearance back.
The timing works for Houston, too, after Spencer Arrighetti landed on the injured list over the weekend and opened a spot in the rotation. Wesneski is expected to join Hunter Brown, Peter Lambert, Ronel Blanco and Tatsuya Imai.
Imai’s grip on that job doesn’t look especially secure. He again couldn’t get through the first inning last night, while Cristian Javier followed with five scoreless innings and seven strikeouts in relief, needing 70 pitches to do it.
Houston could turn to Javier the next time that rotation spot comes up if it wants to move Imai to the bullpen. The Astros are also expected to keep looking at the trade market for starting pitching over the next six days.
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