Astros Share Major Update on Hunter Brown’s Shoulder Injury

The Houston Astros have been dealt a tough blow early in the season as ace Hunter Brown has been placed on the injured list with a grade two right shoulder strain. Brown had made two starts before the injury arose.

According to Chandler Rome of The Athletic, Brown felt discomfort during a throwing session last week. Imaging revealed the grade two shoulder strain.

“I would characterize that as positive — that it was strictly muscle and no issues with any of the bones or structures that you cringe to hear about,” Astros general manager Dana Brown said. “The fact that it’s muscular, it’s a good thing.”

There is no structural damage that is serious enough to require surgery, but Brown will be forced into rest for the next two weeks. He won’t throw a ball in that time, at which point he will be re-evaluated.

There hasn’t been a concrete timeline given by the organization outside of the rest Brown will have.

Brown was off to a great start; in his first two outings, he went 10.2 innings, allowing just one run on five hits while striking out 17 batters.

Astros General Manager Disappointed With Injury

Astros general manager Dana Brown seemed disappointed in the way Brown ramped up into the season through spring training.

“I would have liked to see a little slower buildup,” Dana Brown said. “He was fired up. I would attribute it more to maybe throwing too hard too soon. That’s always a concern. You don’t want guys gunning it the first few weeks of them getting built up. He was literally 97-98 (mph) often in all of his games that he pitched. I’d have liked to see him dial it back — maybe 95-96, touching, feeling a little bit. That’s the only thing.”

Brown threw 102 pitches on opening day, a heavy workload for any pitcher in their first outing of the season.

Astros manager Joe Espada was similarly disappointed with the injury.

“The fact that it’s muscular and there’s no damage to anything in there, it’s good news,” Espada said. “But the fact that we’re going to miss him for a bit just sucks.”

Astros Pitching Staff Struggling Early in Season

The loss of Brown hits harder after you look at the rest of Houston’s starting rotation, which has not fared well so far this season.

Michael Burrows, Cristian Javier, and Tatsuya Imai have all limped out of the gate, with ERA’s of 5.63, 12.96, and 4.32, respectively. Each has had at least one really bad start here in early April.

The most concerning has been Javier, who was expected to get back to a No. 3 caliber starter after injuries limited him the last two seasons. In both of his starts, he’s allowed six earned runs and only struck out three. He hasn’t made it past the fifth inning in either.

Lance McCullers has been the only other starter to show any signs of strength so far. He pitched seven innings of one-run ball in his first start of the season against the Boston Red Sox, where he struck out nine batters.

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