What was supposed to be the Astros’ biggest strength has become a nightly scramble. Three weeks into the 2026 season, injuries have torn through Houston’s pitching staff, forcing the club to piece together games with call-ups, short starts, and an overworked bullpen.
The Closer Who Wasn’t There
Closer Josh Hader has not played since mid-August of last season, when a shoulder capsule sprain ended his 2025 campaign. He opened 2026 on the IL with left biceps tendinitis. The Astros absorbed that loss and moved forward. Then the rotation began to collapse.
Hunter Brown, Houston’s ace, lasted just two starts before a Grade 2 right shoulder strain shut him down on April 5. The club said the issue is muscular, with no ligament damage, but general manager Dana Brown indicated the right-hander will miss more than five weeks. Cristian Javier followed five days later, also with a Grade 2 right shoulder strain, after exiting his April 8 start against the Rockies before the second inning. He is expected to be evaluated around April 24, with no timetable for his return yet. Tatsuya Imai, Houston’s $54 million offseason signing, lasted three starts before right arm fatigue—and, by his own admission, difficulty adjusting to life in the US—sent him to the IL on April 13. Imaging came back clean, but there is no timetable for his return. That is three of the five members of the opening day rotation, all unavailable.
The Depth Hits Keep Coming
The losses have not been limited to starters. Right-hander Cody Bolton, struck in the back by a line drive during an April 6 outing in Colorado, gutted through one more appearance before his mid-back inflammation forced him to the IL on April 15.
The Astros entered the season already without Ronel Blanco, Hayden Wesneski, and Brandon Walter, all recovering from Tommy John surgery. Blanco and Wesneski are not expected back until mid-2026 at the earliest; Walter is out until 2027.
The bullpen has paid the price. Only three bullpens in the majors have worked more innings than Houston’s, and no team had logged more multi-inning appearances by relievers entering Thursday. In one-third of their games this season, Houston’s starter has not finished the fourth inning.
Raiding Sugar Land
The Astros have been piecing games together however they can. This week alone, they called up Colton Gordon, Spencer Arrighetti, and Peter Lambert from Triple-A Sugar Land’s rotation to fill starts. Arrighetti delivered six strong innings and ten strikeouts Wednesday. Lambert, making his first major league start since 2019, struck out eight but allowed four runs over five innings in Friday’s 9-4 loss to the Cardinals. Lance McCullers Jr. and Mike Burrows—the only members of the original rotation still standing—have been the steadiest contributors, but even that steadiness is relative. Burrows is the only starter who has reached five innings in more than one outing.
The depth moves are continuing. On Friday, the Astros signed right-hander Brandon Bielak to a minor league deal and assigned him to Triple-A Sugar Land, where he will start Sunday. Bielak, 30, is a familiar face—he spent parts of five seasons with Houston from 2020 through 2024 before being designated for assignment and traded to the Athletics. He missed most of last season following shoulder surgery. His signing is a sign of how aggressively the organization is stockpiling arms at Sugar Land.
Relief help may be coming, eventually. Left-hander Bennett Sousa, recovering from a left oblique strain, threw a scoreless inning at Double-A Corpus Christi on April 14 and pitched again April 17. Right-hander Nate Pearson, recovering from elbow surgery, threw two innings in an extended spring training game April 11 and threw again April 17. Neither has a firm return date.
Hader’s 60-day IL transfer on Friday was procedural—the move was made to create a roster spot for Lambert, and Espada called it a non-event in terms of the closer’s recovery timeline. Hader threw 20 pitches to hitters at Daikin Park on April 14 in what amounted to his first live batting practice session of the spring. He will not be eligible to return until the final week of May.
Abreu’s Struggles
In his absence, Bryan Abreu has handled closing duties, and the results have been alarming. Abreu was one of the most reliable relievers in baseball last season, posting a 2.28 ERA and stepping in seamlessly when Hader went down in mid-August, converting six of seven save opportunities. That version of Abreu has been nowhere to be found in 2026.
He has already surrendered as many home runs as he allowed all of last season, and his ERA stands at 14.73. His fastball velocity is down roughly 2 mph from last year, and his slider is breaking less sharply than it did in 2025. He has been scored upon in seven of nine outings and has already been moved out of the closer role.
Abreu says he is healthy, but acknowledges the mental toll.
“The mental game is kind of tougher than it looks like,” Abreu said. “It’s basically a lot of overthinking, a lot of questioning of myself. And it’s been tough.”
Espada has expressed confidence that Abreu will turn it around, saying the stuff is still there. So far, the results have said otherwise.
The Astros are a good offensive team playing behind a pitching staff that is running out of answers. The reinforcements on the horizon—Sousa, Pearson, eventually Hader—offer hope, but none is imminent. Until the rotation stabilizes and Abreu finds himself again, Houston will keep asking its offense to outscore problems that runs alone cannot fix.
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