Could Emergence of Hunter Brown Prevent Astros From Adding Trade Deadline Pitchers?

The Houston Astros have had a full rotation's worth of starting pitchers go down in the last few years, and it's pushed the team's depth to points very few have.

Cristian Javier, J.P. France, Luis Garcia, Hayden Wesneski and Spencer Arrighetti are all currently on the injured list. Ryan Gusto and Colton Gordon were not names Astros fans thought would be core parts of the rotation going into June.

There's a real case that Houston could double down and try to trade for more pitchers at the deadline to make sure they have the tools they need to make a proper push to the postseason. But Hunter Brown, who has been one of the best pitchers in the American League, may be saving them from that.

Brown is making a solid case for the AL Cy Young Award with a 2.04 ERA and 0.91 WHIP to along with 71 strikeouts entering Tuesday.

According to Baseball Savant, his Fastball Run Value is in the 99th percentile, making his four-seamer and sinker some of the best in baseball.

If not for Brown's current breakout, there's no telling how different the Astros' direction would be.

If they felt they simply could not put out a group good enough to compete for the division, they might have to sell off key resources for rentals. But as long as Brown can provide consistent starts, it lowers the bar for everyone else, who only needs to produce adequate numbers for the bullpen to do its job.

Javier is targeting the All-Star break for a return, but the timetable for the others are not as clear when determining who could come back this year.

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