Hunter Brown Emerges as Astros’ Ace Amid Possible Free Agency Shakeup

Hunter Brown was a fifth-round pick by the Astros in the 2019 draft. From a relatively unknown school in Detroit, Michigan, the Wayne State University product worked his way into being a consensus top 50 prospect in baseball and was getting comparisons to Justin Verlander.

He came up in 2022 and had a brief stint of 20.1 innings where he allowed two runs, as well as some playoff action. The next season, Houston thought it was time for Brown to finally join the rotation. In 31 outings, including 29 starts, Brown threw 155.2 innings as a rookie. Things did not go well.

Although the right-hander struck out 10.3 batters per nine as a rookie, he allowed 88 earned runs, 26 of which were homers. His ERA was 5.09 and his WHIP was 1.36. Nothing went right for the rookie, but he began showing promise as a sophomore, throwing 170 innings with a 3.49 ERA and 1.271 WHIP.

In his third season, the Astros' belief in Brown finally paid off, and the 27-year-old was flat-out dominant. Setting a career high in innings with 185.1, Brown finally showed he could be a front-line starter.

Brown's ERA was a career low 2.43, and he struck out 206 batters, a 10.0 K/9. Not only was Brown one of 12 pitchers to strikeout 200 batters in 2025, but he improved his walks per nine rate from 3.2 to 2.8.

The All-Star was all over the pitching leaderboards. He had the third-best ERA in all of baseball, had the fourth-best in ERA+, was tied for 10th in K/9, and was even fifth in bWAR with 6.1.

Frankly, Brown should be in the conversation for more than just the team Cy Young. Behind Detroit's Tarik Skubal and Boston's Garrett Crochet, the slot for the third finalist for the AL Cy Young is wide open and Brown has the best case.

He might be 20 innings behind Crochet, but no one else was as valuable as Brown was in his breakout year. With Framber Valdez likley leaving in free agency, there will be an expectation that Brown continues to be the next ace of the Houston Astros.