This is the Road and These are the Hands
Tom Cochrane’s “Life is a Highway” is a banger of a song. It also doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. If you’re singing about metaphorical highways, then maybe “Mozambique” and “Memphis” aren’t the right places to be connecting geographically. Or Pakistan’s “Khyber Pass” and… (checks notes) “Vancouver”.
Still, the song is awesome.
Whether Kai-Wei Teng as a starter makes sense is something different. The Astros hinted at the idea of it last week, and today Kai -Wei Teng officially makes his first start as a Houston Astro.
Teng has done very well since coming to the Astros this season, his recent relief loss to the Yankees not withstanding. Across 16.2 IP in 11 relief appearances, he has posted an 2.16 ERA, striking out 16 and walking 6.
He has been a bright spot in an otherwise disastrous pitching staff that ranks last in the AL in ERA, FIP, xFIP, BB/9 and HR/9, squandering the efforts of an offense that has ranked first in the AL in AVG, OBP, SLG, OPS, and wRC+.
And although both the bullpen and the starting rotation have been abysmal for the Astros, shifting Teng from the pen to the rotation could allow the Astros to get more innings out of what’s been an effective arm so far this season.
The question is whether the effectiveness will carry. Teng is thriving in the bullpen, and you don’t want to fix what’s not broken. But the pitching staff as whole seems broken and you can only fix that with the things that aren’t broken. Right now, that’s Teng.
Last year for the San Francisco Giants, Teng functioned as a starter for 7 of his 8 appearances. He went 1-4 with a 7.66 ERA in those 7 starts.
The problem seems to be when batters get a second look at Teng.
| 1st time seeing batter in game as SP | 2nd time seeing batter in game as SP | |
|---|---|---|
| PAs | 63 | 51 |
| BA | .173 | .342 |
| OBP | .317 | .490 |
| SLG | .327 | .368 |
| OPS | .644 | .859 |
| Walks | 8 | 8 |
| Strikeouts | 23 | 11 |
| K:BB | 2.88 | 1.38 |
When it was the first time a batter saw Teng in a game, Teng fared decently. The .173 BAA and .644 OPS against aren’t too far off the .155 BAA and .545 OPS against he has so far in 2026.
The second time a batter got to see Teng in a game, the wheels fall off. The BAA nearly doubled to .344, the strikeout rate dropped by 40%, and the OPS jumped up over 200 points.
He only made it to a third time through theorder in 2 games and 7 plate appearances, and the results of those 7 plate appearances were not good (.571/.571/.714/1.286).
Teng has yet to see a batter for a second time in a game in 2026. It’s possible, if not probable, that he won’t today either. He may be serving as an opener, or likely he will be pulled before the second time through the order simply because he isn’t stretched out as an starter. Whereas last year he routinely had pitch counts between 70 and 85 as a start, this year hasn’t thrown more than 35 pitches in any outing.
The Astros feel they’ve unlocked something with Kai-Wei, but can they “ride it all night long”? Maybe he’s better in shorter bursts.
Astros @ Orioles Game Information and Gamethread Details
Teng will start opposite right-handed Shane Baz of the Orioles, who sports a 5.08 ERA over 5 starts, with 23 strikeouts and 10 walks across 28.1 innings
The game will be broadcast at 5:35 p.m. CT on SCHN with radio coverage on KBME 790 AM.
This post will be updated with starting lineups as they are made available.
Update:
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Feature photo by Keith Allison, Creative Commons License
FIRST
Feels like its still a Weiss start they are just swapping the order in which he is used with Teng
thats probably the case. KWT’s not stretched out enough go longer than an extended opener’s role.
tomorrow is lambert day. every year we get one guy everyone has zero expectations for who comes in and becomes a surprisingly important part of the rotation. 2023 was JP France, 2024 was ronel blanco. last year was jason alexander.
This year Lambert could be that dude.
Realistically, 65 pitches is all I see Teng Mang going. As noted already, he’s not stretched out. And of course, as stated in the article, the 2nd time through a lineup has historically not been gracious to Teng.
The second time through the order penalty should limit Teng’s use only as an opener. But I fear that Dana has a personal investment in Teng as a starter. He was proud of the trade at the time, and he hopes that his questionable starting pitcher signing results could be offset if Teng succeeds. Hopefully that happens (i.e., Teng succeeds as a starter), but the odds don’t look great.
I feel like Dana has a similar stubbornness with Brice