Houston Astros Ace Leading Team Higher in Latest Weekly Power Rankings

The Houston Astros seemingly have things back on the right track after a slow start to the year saw the team come out to a 5-7 record over their first 12 games. Since then, they have gone 19-15, closing the gap on the Seattle Mariners for the lead in the American League West.

The offense struggling to get out of the gate played a big part in those issues, but has hit to a .703 OPS over the last 15 days. It has brought their OPS on the year up to a much nicer .689.

One member of the team who has yet to face any real challenges this year has been the young righty Hunter Brown. After a strong 2024 campaign that made the starter a better-known commodity, he has cemented his status as the team's ace through his first nine starts in 2025 and helped raise the stock of the Astros in the latest weekly power rankings. After placing No. 20 last week, the team has jumped to No. 16 in the latest iteration.

Houston Astros Ace Hunter Brown Leads Astros Up Power Rankings

"With eight innings of three-hit, one-run ball in a tough-luck loss to the Rangers on Thursday, Hunter Brown now has a 1.43 ERA, 0.83 WHIP and 67 strikeouts in 56.2 innings over his first nine starts," writes Joel Reuter of Bleacher Report. "He is one of a handful of Astros players having a strong individual season, though they have yet to hit their stride as a team, with their longest winning streak of the season stuck on three games."

Brown enters the new week with a 6-2 record, leading the American League in pitcher wins. He also leads the AL in HR/9 at 0.3, while leading Major League Baseball in FIP (1.92) and H/9 (5.2).

While Brown's BABIP sits at .248 for the year, far lower than his career average of .308, and that generally indicates that regression is coming, that may not be the case this time. Houston's infield defense has greatly improved with the additions of Christian Walker and Brendan Rodgers for first and second base, respectively, while even Isaac Paredes has been an above-average defender at third base.

Brown is out to become a household name this year, and to this point, his success every fifth day has lifted Houston along the way.