The Astros announced Tuesday that right-hander Hunter Brown has been reinstated from the 60-day injured list. Catcher Yainer Diaz also returns from the 10-day IL, per the team. In a pair of corresponding moves, Houston optioned catcher Collin Price to Triple-A Sugar Land and designated right-hander Jayden Murray for assignment.
Brown, the third-place finisher in last year’s AL Cy Young voting, made only two starts this season before a shoulder strain sent him to the injured list. He was excellent in his first two starts (one run, 17 strikeouts, six walks in 10 2/3 innings) but has now been out of action more than two months. The Astros sent him on four minor league rehab starts — one in Double-A, three in Triple-A — and he logged a pristine 1.88 ERA with a 38.9% strikeout rate and 5.6% walk rate in 14 1/3 innings.
Based on those results, Brown seems plenty ready to step back in atop Houston’s rotation. The 27-year-old has been one of the best pitchers in the American League since his 2024 breakout, combining for 366 innings with a 2.88 ERA, a 27.1% strikeout rate, an 8.3% walk rate and a 48.6% ground-ball rate — all comfortably better than the league-average rate stats among pitchers.
Since Brown’s placement on the injured list, Houston starters have collectively posted the second-worst ERA in the majors. Their 5.14 mark leads only Colorado’s 6.19 ERA. Astros starters rank 21st in total innings since that time (327 1/3), 18th in strikeout rate (21.3%) and dead last in walk rate (11.6%).
All of that only underscores Brown’s importance to the Houston staff. They’ve used a dozen different starting pitchers since Brown’s injury. Spencer Arrighetti (2.57 ERA in 63 innings) and minor league signee Peter Lambert (3.47 ERA in 57 innings) have posted season-saving performances for the ‘Stros. Cody Bolton (4.70 ERA in 7 2/3 innings while acting as an opener) is the only other pitcher to start even one game for Houston and post an ERA under 5.00. Mike Burrows, Tatsuya Imai, Kai-Wei Teng and Lance McCullers Jr. have all started between seven and 13 games since Brown’s injury. Burrows’ 5.70 ERA in that span is the best of the bunch.
Diaz, also 27, has been out for the past six weeks due to an oblique strain. He’d been scuffling to begin the season, logging a career-worst .238/.255/.347 slash (62 wRC+) through his first 106 plate appearances. Diaz is coming off a pedestrian 2025 showing (.256/.284/.417) but was one of the game’s best-hitting catchers from 2023-24, when he logged a combined .293/.318/.478 line and popped 39 home runs over 996 plate appearances.
In Diaz’s absence, Christian Vázquez has shouldered the majority of the workload behind the plate. He’s hitting just .218/.277/.340 on the season and has seen his typically exceptional defensive ratings dip a bit. As a whole, Houston’s catching corps has been one of the least productive units in baseball. Their combined 60 wRC+ (indicating they’ve been 40% worse than average at the plate) leads only the Yankees (49), Phillies (49) and White Sox (47).
The 29-year-old Murray came to the Astros from the Rays at the 2022 trade deadline. He was part of the three-team swap sending Trey Mancini to Houston, Jose Siri to Tampa Bay and prospect Chayce McDermott to Baltimore. The 29-year-old righty pitched in the majors both this season and last. He’s totaled 25 innings of relief and been tagged for 13 earned runs (4.68 ERA) on 29 hits and 10 walks with 16 strikeouts.
Murray sits just under 96 mph with his four-seamer. A low-80s slider is his go-to secondary offering, though he’ll occasionally sprinkle in a changeup, sinker or cutter. The former 23rd-round pick struggled badly in his first two stints at the Triple-A level with the Rays in 2022-23. He then missed nearly all of 2024 due to injury. He returned to post decent minor league numbers last season (64 innings. 4.64 ERA, 23.8 K%, 10.8 BB%) and has been outstanding this season: 15 1/3 innings, 1.17 ERA, 19-to-6 K/BB ratio.
Murray still has a full slate of minor league options remaining. That, coupled with above-average velocity and this year’s showing in Sugar Land, could lead another club to show some interest either in a minor trade or via a waiver claim. Houston will have five days to trade him before he needs to be placed on waivers. Since outright waivers are a 48-hour process, we’ll know the result of his DFA within the next week.
