The Houston Astros are losing another arm, and this time it’s Kai-Wei Teng heading to the 15-day injured list with a right knee sprain, according to several reports on X, with Chandler Rome of The Athletic first reporting the move.
It’s the latest hit in a season that has already turned the pitching staff into a shuffle of names. Teng, who is 27 years old in 2026, has worked in 23 games and made 10 starts. Across 64 innings, he’s 4-6 with a 4.36 ERA, 63 strikeouts and a 1.36 WHIP.
The timing makes the IL placement even more telling. Teng has been scuffling for a while, posting a 6.00 ERA over his last seven starts while giving up 37 hits and 22 earned runs in 33 innings.
His last trip to the mound in Detroit against the Tigers was rough from the jump: 3.2 innings, eight hits, four earned runs. He didn’t look right, and now the injury gives that outing a clearer explanation.
Houston had originally planned to option Teng to Triple-A Sugar Land, but that decision is now being wiped away by the injury move. Whatever was bothering him, the Astros will at least get a chance to let him rest and recover before he’s back on a mound.
And Teng is just the newest name on a growing list. Jeremy Peña’s calf strain has forced a major infield reset and could keep him out until mid-July, while Carlos Correa is done for the year after ankle surgery. It’s been weeks of patchwork baseball for Houston, with depth players filling gaps while the core gets healthy - or tries to.
There are, at least, some signs of help coming. Cristian Javier threw a rehab start on June 27 and got up to 85 pitches.
Lance McCullers Jr. is set for another rehab start on July 1 in Oklahoma City, and Ronel Blanco is also nearing a return. LaMonte Wade Jr. has started a rehab assignment at Triple-A Sugar Land and could be back sometime in early July, which would help an outfield that has been stretched thin.
At 42-44 and still in the American League Wild Card race, Houston doesn’t have much margin for more setbacks. The Astros need the next few weeks to look a lot different than the last month, and Teng landing on the injured list will matter a lot less if reinforcements actually start arriving.
The Astros have not announced a corresponding move yet.
In Other News...
Astros Outfield Hope Just Landed A Huge National Honor
The Astros have another reason to keep a close eye on their farm system this summer, and it comes with some national shine. Houston announced that one of its top young talents will represent the organization on the American League roster in the MLB Futures Game on July 12 at Citizens Bank Park, a showcase that has long served as a stage for the games most promising minor leaguers.
At just 18 and already holding his own at Single-A, Kevin Alvarez has started to build a case as one of the more intriguing names in the Houston system. He is batting .266 with six home runs and 30 RBIs, and he has climbed to No. 70 on MLBs prospect rankings, a reminder that the Astros may be looking at a future answer in the outfield even if that timeline is still unfolding. [Read more 🡒]
Astros Face Painful Deadline Choice With Young Pitching Now In Play
AJ Blubaugh has become one of the more interesting names floating around Houstons deadline conversations, and that says plenty about where the Astros are right now. The right-hander has handled a heavy workload in his first major-league season and done it with a 3.36 ERA over 56 1/3 innings, giving the club a useful arm in the bullpen while also reminding front-office decision-makers that he is exactly the kind of controllable pitcher contenders hate to move.
The Astros still have several needs to sort through before the deadline, including help from the left side of the outfield, another right-handed reliever and possibly a starter, which is why young, affordable pitching is suddenly part of the discussion. Blubaugh is under team control for five more seasons, and Houston has shown before under Dana Brown that it will part with promising players when it believes the return can help now, but for the moment the bigger question is whether the club can improve without sacrificing too much of the depth it has spent years building. [Read more 🡒]