Since Hunter Brown returned from the IL on June 16, he’s made 13 starts. In the first 12, the most strikeouts he’s had is 8, which he did once, against Toronto. He’s struck out 7 twice. In 7 of the other 9 starts, he recorded 4 or fewer strikeouts. That’s not usual for a pitcher who notched 206 strikeouts last year. Last year, he only had 7 starts with 4 of fewer strikeouts the entire season (31 starts).
Hunter Brown lives off his 4-seam fastball, which averages 95.3 mph, and has gotten as high as 98.6. That’s particularly true in 2026, as his breaking and offspeed stuff hasn’t been as effective.
Brown has been frustrated this year. His numbers aren’t terrible, but they’re not in line with what he expects of himself, or what the Astros expect from a Cy Young finalist. He’s frustrated with his 4-seam fastball, in particular, Chandler Rome of The Athletic reported in mid-August. He can’t throw it where he wants to.
“It just comes down to the fact that I should be able to throw my four-seam fastball in the strike zone,” Brown said. “Is it timing? Is it this? Is it that? Sure, there’s a lot that goes into it. But at the end of the day, I need to throw more strikes. That’s the bottom line.”
From his return form the IL on June 16 through his August 22 start, Brown has thrown 393 4-seamers. Compared to 2025, he’s thrown fewer of them in the zone, fewer in the heart and shadow zones, and has thrown fewer for strikes in general.
Those were his first 12 starts after coming off the IL. The 13th, he looked completely different.
In Brown’s last start against the Mets, he punched out 10 batters and walked only one. It’s only one start, but in that one start, Brown was throwing his 4-seamer into the zone, to the heart and shadow zones, and for strikes at rates more similar to 2025 than the rest of his 2026.
| 2025 | 2026 (6/16-8/22) | Last Start (8/29/26) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4SFB pitches | 1110 | 393 | 27 |
| In Zone % | 50.9% | 43.3% | 51.9% |
| Heart+Shadow % | 72.7% | 65.1% | 70.4% |
| Strike % | 61.4% | 56.0% | 63.0% |
| Whiff % | 29.8% | 19.0% | 40.0% |
Source: Baseball Savant
It should be noted that August was the first day that former pitching coach Brent Strom rejoined the Astros as a pitching consultant. It’s only one game, but if Hunter Brown has figured out how to throw his four seamer where he wants to again, if he has found his 2025 Cy Young finalist form again, that will go a long way for the Astros stretch run, where Brown has around 5 starts left.
White Sox @ Astros Game Information and Gamethread Details
With yesterday’s win against the White Sox, the Astros took the season series and thus the tiebreaker against Chicago. They still remain 2.5 games behind the ChiSox, however. The Rangers lost, but the Mariners won yesterday, so with 22 games left in the season, the Astros cling to a 2 game lead (plus tiebreaker) over Texas and a 5 game lead (without tiebreaker) over Seattle.
Hunter Brown starts for the Astros in an afternoon game today and will be opposite Luis Castillo, whom the Astros know well from facing him when he was with Seattle. While the Astros have struggled to find starting pitching all season, the Mariners were swimming in it at the deadline, to the point that they felt comfortable trading away Castillo to an American League rival.
Castillo hasn’t had a 2026 to remember. When he was traded from Seattle he was 3-9 and had a 5.06 ERA and 1.40 WHIP. Since he was traded to the White Sox, he hasn’t fared any better in 5 starts, going 1-1 with a 6.45 ERA and 1.66 WHIP.
For the season, Castillo is 4-10 with a 5.31 ERA, 1.44 WHIP, a 7.8 K/9 (a career low) and a 2.4 BB/9. In his last game, he allowed 4 runs in 4 innings against the twins on 8 hits, including 2 home runs, walking one and striking out just one.
The Astros have hit Castillo well this year in their 2 games against him. On April 11, the Astros lit up Castillo for 7 runs on 10 hits and 1 walk in 3.1 innings. On May 14, the Astros got 3 runs over 5.2 innings on 4 hits and 3 walks.
The game will be broadcast at 1:10 p.m. CT on SCHN with radio coverage on KBME 790 AM.
This post will be updated with starting lineup as they are made available.
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