In a season already defined by injury and misfortune, the Houston Astros have found a reliable arm in Kai-Wei Teng.
The 27-year-old Taiwanese right-hander has been one of the few reliable arms in an otherwise battered bullpen, posting a 2-0 record with two earned runs over 8.1 innings in six appearances. For a pitching staff that has lost three starters to the injured list in two weeks, Teng has been a quiet but welcome surprise.
His path to Houston was anything but conventional. Originally signed by the Minnesota Twins out of Taiwan in 2017 for a $500,000 bonus, Teng spent years working through the minor league systems of two organizations before getting his first taste of the majors with the San Francisco Giants in 2024. Those early big league appearances were rough—a 2-4 record and 6.37 ERA over eight appearances left little reason for optimism. The Giants eventually moved on, and the Astros acquired him on January 30 in a trade that sent catching prospect Jancel Villarroel to San Francisco.
Few outside the organization took notice. Teng arrived with modest expectations and a career ERA that didn’t inspire confidence—and had even declined an invitation to represent Taiwan in the 2026 World Baseball Classic, betting that his focus was better spent earning a roster spot in Houston. That bet paid off. He made the Opening Day roster, the first Taiwanese pitcher to do so in seven years. But something has clicked since he put on an Astros uniform.
He made his regular season debut for the Astros on March 28 against the Angels, entering during a comeback victory that would become the team’s first win of the season—and the third of his major league career. It was an introduction to what has followed: a willingness to take the ball whenever called upon, in whatever situation the game demands.
“It’s my first time pitching for the Astros, so I might have been a bit too excited in my first inning,” Teng said after the game. “After settling down, I told myself to stay calm and pitch as usual, and that made me feel more comfortable in the next two innings.”
That calm has carried over. Through six appearances, he has allowed just two runs—both solo home runs—on five hits and two walks. He’s generating strikeouts as well.
With the rotation in crisis, Teng’s role could expand. General manager Dana Brown has already floated the idea of stretching him out for longer outings. “We feel like we have some depth now that’s currently in our bullpen,” Brown said. “We’re going to have to potentially stretch out Teng.”
Away from the mound, Teng brings a warmth that teammates and fans alike have responded to. His parents own a restaurant back home in Taiwan, and if baseball weren’t his calling, he says he’d want to be a chef. His favorite food is sushi. He dreams of visiting Hawaii someday.
He is, in the best possible way, a pitcher no one saw coming. In a season that has tested the patience of even the most devoted Astros fans, Kai-Wei Teng is a reason to smile.
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Photo: Bryan Green / Flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0)