Hunter Brown rehab update is music to the Astros’ ears and solidifies his return timeline

Despite all of the injuries and early-season disappointments, the Houston Astros are still hanging around. One of the biggest disappointments that the Astros suffered from early on was the performance of the starting rotation. The unit's downfall was exacerbated by the early April injury to ace Hunter Brown.

Houston's rotation fell to MLB's cellar early on in Brown's absence, but lately the starting staff has shown some signs of life with Spencer Arrighetti, Peter Lambert, and Kai-Wei Teng all putting together serviceable or better performances. Now, they're set to get a huge boost with Hunter Brown dominating in his third rehab start.

Brown threw 57 pitches over 4 1/3 innings for Sugar Land, allowing just one earned run on three hits, a walk, and four strikeouts. It has him on track to be back by the middle of this month.

As the Astros hang around in the mediocre American League, particularly the AL West, where it seems like no one can truly pull away, Brown could be a season savior. However, he might not have to carry the staff alone.

Hunter Brown is set to return just as the Astros' rotation is rounding into form, helping to set up a playoff push

A mid-June activation for Brown could mean that the ace is coming back right in the nick of time. The club has finally started to get healthy with important pieces like Jose Altuve, Josh Hader, and others now back in the fold. Not only will Brown be joining Arrighetti, fresh off the AL Pitcher of the Month award for May, and Lambert and Teng, who, at the very least, look like competent back-end starters, but also a resurgent Tatsuya Imai.

Imai finally looks like he's getting comfortable in the majors, and after looking like a big-money bust to begin the year, he has put together a 2.12 ERA performance over his last three starts. If he can replicate something close to this performance moving forward, it will be a huge boost.

In fact, the only rotation question that might still be hanging in the balance when Brown is activated is what to do with Mike Burrows. There's some thought that Houston could go to a six-man rotation. On the one hand, that could help keep everyone healthy and fresh as the Astros look to claw back into the thick of things. On the other hand, Burrows has been the clear odd-man-out of a five-man staff based on recent performance.

That's a small potatoes issue, though. For now, the big news is that the Astros aren't dead, and getting a Cy Young caliber ace back at the top of the rotation could truly set the club on the type of run that makes it clear that they're the best team in the AL West. It sounds pretty crazy, but it's a testament to what getting healthy can do for a team.

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow