Hunter Brown will make his fourth and possibly final minor league rehab start on Wednesday, Astros manager Joe Espada told the Houston Chronicle’s Matt Kawahara and other reporters yesterday. Brown will pitch for Triple-A Sugar Land for the third time during his rehab assignment, with the first of his four outings coming with Double-A Corpus Christi on May 24.
As expected, Brown’s pitch count has slowly increased with each start, going from 35 to 44 to 57. Espada had previously hinted that the Astros could activate Brown after just three rehab outings, though an earlier return probably would’ve required the use of a piggyback pitcher behind Brown if he was limited to something in the realm of 70 pitches. As such, the right-hander will get a bit more time to fully build his arm strength before returning from the 60-day injured list.
Brown emerged as the ace of Houston’s rotation in 2025 and hit the ground running this year with an 0.84 ERA over his first two starts. A Grade 2 shoulder strain then sent Brown to the IL in one of the first of what has been many major injury blows to the Astros roster. Brown is one of seven pitchers and 10 overall players still on Houston’s injured list, so it isn’t any surprise that the Astros have a 30-37 record.
That said, the Astros have gone 13-9 in their last 22 games, as the team has gotten a little healthier. Yordan Alvarez‘s MVP-level numbers have helped carry the lineup, while Spencer Arrighetti, Peter Lambert, and Kai-Wei Teng have all pitched well in filling in the many holes in the rotation. An in-form Brown returning to the top of that rotation would be another major boost to the Astros’ chances of digging themselves out of their early-season hole.
Just as Brown is getting nearer a return, however, yet another player is facing an injury scare. Nick Allen made an early exit from today’s 5-0 loss to the Athletics due to left hamstring discomfort, since arose after the infielder singled in the third inning. “I was trying to leg out a double there and kind of felt something grab on me, a little bit on the left hammy, lower left side,” Allen told MLB.com’s Brian McTaggart and other reporters.
Allen said he’ll undergo testing to determine the extent of the injury but downplayed the seriousness of the discomfort. The backup infielder already missed a couple of weeks earlier this year dealing with back spasms, but Allen has already played in 37 games this season, as the Astros’ various injuries opened the door for playing time at second base, third base, and shortstop. Allen is providing his usual light offense (.266/.304/.344 in 70 plate appearances) and his glovework isn’t quite up to its usual stellar standard, but Allen has been a useful depth piece for the shorthanded roster.
In another piece from McTaggart, he notes that the Astros have transitioned pitching prospect Miguel Ullola into a full-time relief role. Ullola is a classic case of a pitcher with great stuff that he hasn’t been able to harness — over 471 2/3 career innings in the minors, Ullola has an impressive 30.54% strikeout rate but also a 15.75% walk rate, resulting in an uninspiring 4.45 ERA.
Ullola doesn’t turn 24 until later this month so it is possible he might get another look as a starter down the road. But after six seasons of inconsistency, “you start narrowing it down when they get to Triple-A,” Espada said. “He’s started [86] games already, so now we start getting a better feel for what he’s going to be and how can impact our roster.”
Houston added Ullola to the 40-man roster last November to protect him from the Rule 5 Draft, and the move to the bullpen might be the final step in getting the right-hander to the majors. Ullola was charged with three runs over two-third of an inning today, but he hadn’t allowed a run in his previous five relief innings. As usual, switching to relief pitching has delivered a velocity bump, as Ullola’s already plus fastball has touched 97.3mph since going to the pen.
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