The Astros will activate Hayden Wesneski from the 60-day injured list to start tomorrow’s series finale in Anaheim, relays Matt Kahawara of The Houston Chronicle. Houston already has a vacancy on the 40-man roster, so they’ll only need to option a pitcher as a corresponding active roster move.
Wesneski returns to an MLB mound for the first time in 14 months. The Astros acquired the righty as a secondary part of their return from the Cubs for Kyle Tucker. Wesneski worked 32 innings with a 4.50 ERA across six starts to open the ’25 season. He blew out after that and underwent Tommy John surgery last May.
It was a relatively smooth recovery for the 28-year-old righty. Wesneski began a minor league rehab stint within 13 months and has looked sharp on the buildup. He has fired 20 innings of 2.25 ERA ball while recording 21 strikeouts and four walks. Wesneski went 4 1/3 scoreless frames with seven punchouts in a Triple-A start against Milwaukee’s affiliate on Friday. He went 80 pitches and should be able to work at least 4-5 innings in his first MLB outing.
Houston had an opening in the rotation after losing Spencer Arrighetti to the injured list over the weekend. For now, Wesneski will slot alongside Hunter Brown, Peter Lambert, Ronel Blanco and Tatsuya Imai.
Imai’s hold on a spot could be tenuous, as he again failed to escape the first inning last night. Cristian Javier went five scoreless with seven strikeouts in relief, tossing 70 pitches in the process. The Astros could swap Javier in the next time that rotation spot comes up if they want to have Imai work out of the bullpen. They’re also likely to poke around the trade market for starting pitching over the next six days.
