HOUSTON -- On the day ace Hunter Brown returned to the Astros rotation after missing 2 1/2 months with a shoulder strain, fellow right-hander Cristian Javier -- who landed on the injured list a week after Brown with a shoulder strain -- made his third Minor League rehab start Tuesday night in Albuquerque, N.M.
Javier, pitching for Triple-A Sugar Land, worked 3 1/3 innings, striking out six of the 14 batters he faced while allowing three runs, four hits and one walk. He gave up a two-run home run in the fourth inning to Charlie Condon on a 91.5 mph four-seam fastball. Javier threw 37 of 63 pitches for strikes.
He threw 36 four-seamers, which averaged 92.2 mph – about 0.6 mph below his season average. Javier coaxed 18 swings on the pitch and recorded seven of his 10 whiffs. He also got three whiffs on his sweeper, which he threw 17 times.
Javier is expected to make at least one more start before perhaps rejoining the Astros rotation.
He was originally scheduled to pitch Sunday at Sugar Land, but the game was cancelled due to rain. He retired all nine batters he faced in his previous Minor League rehab start on June 9 against Sacramento, striking out three batters. He threw 44 pitches in that game.
Javier, 29, was a mainstay in the Astros’ rotation in 2022 and ’23, a period over which he posted a 3.59 ERA and helped Houston win the 2022 World Series. But he only made seven starts in 2024 before undergoing Tommy John surgery. He returned for eight starts in ’25, over which he posted a 4.62 ERA. In three starts with the Astros this year, he’s allowed 13 runs, 13 hits, nine walks and struck out four batters in 9 1/3 innings.