Houston Astros Manger Makes Clear Plan for Six-Man Rotation

The Houston Astros have set a clear plan for their new six-man rotation.

May 11, 2024; Detroit, Michigan, USA; Houston Astros pitcher Cristian Javier (53) throws against the / Brian Bradshaw Sevald-USA TODAY Sports

The Houston Astros starting rotation is an ever-evolving story this season, with another wrinkle being added today.

Manager Joe Espada announced that Cristian Javier will make Thursday's start in the series finale against the Oakland Athletics, per The Athletic's Chandler Rome. Hunter Brown will still make a start this weekend against the Milwaukee Brewers, which means that Houston is now in a six-man rotation.

There is a bright side to this, in that the Astros finally have enough healthy pitchers that a six-man rotation is possible. Though, with most of them struggling, there's a bit of a mixed bag of emotions.

The starting rotation will now feature: Javier, Brown, Framber Valdez, Justin Verlander, Spencer Arrighetti and Ronel Blanco. The expansion to six is a necessity given that Houston is in a stretch of playing 29 games within 30 days.

Javier made his return to the rotation on Saturday and got rocked by the Detroit Tigers. He was pulled after just 1.1 innings of work, giving up seven runs on five hits and four walks. It's very unlikely that the talented pitcher performs that poorly again, but it was an unfortunate result of a highly anticipated return.

Arrighetti and Brown are the clear outliers in this rotation, though, as both are sporting ERAs of at least 7.79 and FIPs north of 5.00.

Brown, though, is coming off of his best performance in relief of Javier in Saturday's game. The 25-year-old put up five innings of work and gave up only one run while striking out seven.

Starter Jose Urquidy is currently on a rehab assignment in AAA as he prepares for his 2024 MLB debut. In his one appearance in the minors, he gave up three runs in 2.2 innings of work.

When he does return to the rotation, the 29-year-old should take Arrighetti's spot and let the rookie head back down to the minors for some more work.