Houston Astros pitcher Hunter Brown has been diagnosed with a grade 2 right shoulder strain and will refrain from throwing for a few weeks. The team placed him on the 15-day injured list for the first time in his career. Manager Joe Espada called it tough news but noted the issue is muscular with no ligament damage.
The Astros announced the diagnosis before Tuesday night's game against the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field. Brown first felt the issue in his shoulder during a routine throwing session on Friday, then flew to Houston for examination by team doctors. He was placed on the injured list on Sunday after making two early-season starts: 4 2/3 scoreless innings on Opening Day March 26 against the Angels, and six innings of one-run ball on March 31 versus the Red Sox. Espada explained dialing back Brown's pitch count after his heavy Opening Day workload of 102 pitches, saying, “He’s never been injured, and this is new for all of us.” The manager added, “We’ll go back in two weeks and we’ll check him again, and we’ll see where we go from there.” The Astros plan to expand to a six-man rotation starting this weekend against the Seattle Mariners, amid 13 straight games without a day off. They expect to call up right-hander Spencer Arrighetti from Triple-A soon, after his recent scoreless outing for the Space Cowboys. Other depth options include offseason additions Tatsuya Imai, Mike Burrows, Kai-Wei Teng, and Ryan Weiss, plus Cody Bolton. Espada said, “It’s impossible to replace a guy like Hunter, but we do have some guys who can step up and hold down the fort while he gets back.” Brown enters the injury coming off a strong 2025 season, going 12-9 with a 2.43 ERA in 31 starts. He finished third in American League Cy Young voting, struck out 206 in 185 1/3 innings, and posted the majors' longest scoreless streak at 28 innings.
