The Houston Astros have faced some difficulties over the first month of the 2025 MLB regular season.
Their offense has been stagnant for the most part, putting a lot of pressure on the pitching staff to perform to the best of their abilities. If they aren’t on their game on the mound, winning games is a challenge.
More often than not, the staff has answered the call.
One of the players leading the way in that regard is starting pitcher Hunter Brown, who is turning into a star before our eyes.
After a tough first full season in the Major Leagues in 2023, he turned a corner in May 2024. From that point on, the only pitchers in baseball who had a lower ERA than him were Paul Skenes of the Pittsburgh Pirates and Chris Sale of the Atlanta Braves, who won the National League Rookie of the Year and Cy Young Awards, respectively.
Brown wasn’t in the running for any accolades last year, but he is going to be in the mix for plenty in 2025, carrying over that dominance into this season.
Through seven starts he has a 1.67 ERA. He has thrown 43 innings and has 49 strikeouts. His control has improved a ton with only 10 walks issued and he has allowed only one home run. An elite 1.79 FIP is the best in baseball.
Entering the first full week of May, Brown has been one of the best pitchers in baseball. A panel put together by Jason Foster of MLB.com to vote on All-MLB teams through the first mont of the season certainly feels the same.
Brown was selected for the All-MLB Second Team, joining Logan Webb of the San Francisco Giants, MacKenzie Gore of the Washington Nationals, Michael King of the San Diego Padres and Hunter Greene of the Cincinnati Reds.
One of the reasons that he has been so good this year is his fastball, which has been one of the best offerings in the MLB.
“Brown led all pitchers with a 1.7 bWAR entering Monday, and the righty has allowed no runs in three of his past four starts. His four-seamer, which averages 97 mph, has a whiff rate of 29 percent and has held opposing hitters to an .075 average,” Foster wrote, with statistics through April 29.
He has made one more start since that point, throwing six innings against the Chicago White Sox and striking out nine batters for the third consecutive outing.
Brown did allow a season-high three earned runs in that game, walking three batters and allowing four hits.
But, the Astros were able to get the win, moving to 5-2 in games when he takes the mound.
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