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As the Houston Astros look to stay afloat in the American League playoff hunt, general manager Dana Brown delivered a wave of updates on the team’s battered pitching staff, offering hope that reinforcements could soon be on the way.
The most encouraging news centers around right-hander Cristian Javier, who took a significant step forward in his recovery from Tommy John surgery. Now 13 months removed from the procedure, Javier began a minor-league rehab assignment on Saturday with the Astros’ rookie-level Florida Complex League affiliate. He threw 1⅓ innings and fired 35 pitches, with his fastball reportedly reaching 95 mph.
“My reports said that he came out feeling really good,” Astros manager Joe Espada said. “He’s progressing well, and we’re optimistic he can help us this season.”
Brown echoed that sentiment, noting that Javier is ahead of fellow injured starter Luis Garcia in the rehab process. While Garcia’s velocity reached 94 mph in his recent outing — also with the FCL affiliate — Brown said the right-hander “is probably going to take a little bit longer” to rejoin the big-league club.
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Garcia’s appearance on Monday marked his first rehab outing of the season, another key milestone in his return from Tommy John surgery. Both arms were integral to Houston’s rotation before injuries derailed their 2024 campaigns.
Meanwhile, another promising young pitcher, Spencer Arrighetti, is nearing the next step in his own recovery journey. The 24-year-old right-hander suffered a fractured right thumb during a freak batting-practice accident in April, but he's now throwing live batting practice sessions in Florida. Espada said Arrighetti threw two innings on Sunday and could begin a rehab assignment “in a week or a week-and-a-half.”
“He’s really close,” Espada said. “He just needs to get through a couple more live BPs, but we’re feeling good about where he’s at.”
Arrighetti showed flashes of potential in his brief stint with the Astros earlier this season and could be a valuable depth piece once healthy. His return, along with those of Javier and Garcia, would provide a much-needed boost to a rotation that’s leaned heavily on Framber Valdez and Ronel Blanco in the first half.
On the position-player front, outfielder Chas McCormick is also nearing a return from a left oblique strain that has sidelined him since June. He began a rehab assignment with Triple-A Sugar Land on July 4 and has appeared in five games, going 2-for-20 with a homer, two RBIs, and three runs scored.
Although McCormick was not in the lineup for Sugar Land’s game on Sunday in Oklahoma City, Espada noted that he would head to Florida during the All-Star break to get additional at-bats and ramp up activity.
“Chas is close,” Espada said. “We just want to make sure he’s seeing live pitching and gets enough reps before we bring him back.”
With the Astros clawing to stay in the postseason picture, the return of key arms like Javier, Garcia, and Arrighetti — plus the spark McCormick brings to the lineup — could be just what the team needs to make a second-half surge.
