The Houston Astros may be playing better ball as of late, but even after their 8-5 win over the St. Louis Cardinals on Wednesday night, they remain six games below .500 at 28-34. Alas, the blows keep on coming for the Astros. Their pitching staff, in particular, has been ravaged by injuries throughout 2024. Not helping matters at all is the fact that Cristian Javier will undergo Tommy John surgery, according to Chandler Rome of The Athletic.

Undergoing Tommy John surgery requires a 12 to 14 month recovery period, which means that Javier, in addition to missing the entirety of the 2024 campaign for the Astros, is also in danger of missing a chunk of next season. This, however, seemed to be the best course of action for Javier, as it was well-known orthopedic surgeon Dr. Keith Meister who recommended that he go under the knife to help alleviate the right forearm discomfort that landed him initially on the Injured List.

The Astros are also dealing with injuries to the likes of Lance McCullers Jr. and Luis Garcia, two solid rotation options that the team is hopeful will make a positive impact on the team's hopes of mounting a comeback in the standings in the second half of the season. Moreover, Jose Urquidy, the 29-year old starter who pitched 164.1 innings last season, could be in danger of missing the next year or so as well as he debates the merits of joining Cristian Javier as Tommy John surgery recipients.

This is certainly not how the Astros envisioned their 2024 season would go. They also have one of the worst farm systems in baseball, so it's not like they can consider themselves major players on the trade market. They will be hoping that the remaining healthy starters on the roster, led by veteran Justin Verlander, can hold down the fort.

A peek into the Astros' pitching woes

When the pitcher who has tallied the most innings for a team is someone who is currently setting a career-high in innings pitched for a single season in his MLB career, then there is plenty of cause for concern surrounding that team's starting rotation. For the Astros, this is the case; Ronel Blanco, who entered this season having started just seven big league games with a total of 58.1 innings under his belt, has emerged as the team's best starter.

This is not a knock on Blanco; he has done well for himself despite being one of the most unheralded starters in baseball. Through 10 games, Blanco has a 2.44 ERA, thanks in large part to his ability to suppress hard contact (his .200 BABIP allowed, however, signals regression potential).

Behind Blanco are two solid arms in Justin Verlander and Framber Valdez; Verlander has pitched 52 innings across nine starts and has tallied a 3.63 ERA, while Valdez has a 3.95 ERA in his nine starts (54.2 innings) despite his struggles in striking the opposition out. That Astros front three is solid, if a bit lacking in a true ace. But behind them is where it gets very dicey.

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The Astros are relying on Hunter Brown and Spencer Arrighetti, and they have struggled to say the least. Brown has started the most games for the Astros, with 11, but there he is, allowing runs left and right as evidenced by his unsightly 6.18 ERA. His peripherals suggest that improvement may be around the corner, but to what extent? Brown finished last season with a 5.09 ERA in 155.2 innings, as despite his solid swing-and-miss stuff, he has been unable to put his tools together into one consistent pitching package.

Meanwhile, Arrighetti is dealing with a bit of an injury of his own after he was hit by a comebacker during the Astros' win over the Cardinals on Tuesday. The rookie is only 24 years old, and he has had his moments of solid play, but is it really in the Astros' best interest to overtax their youngster?

Cristian Javier, see you back on the mound next year

2024 has been a bumpy ride for Cristian Javier even before the news of his need to undergo Tommy John surgery came out. The Astros starter needed a trip to the IL back in April due to neck discomfort, and then upon his return, he proceeded to pitch to the tune of a 9.00 ERA in 11 innings across three starts. Not too long afterwards, Javier had to go to the IL while he dealt with a forearm injury, which served as the precursor for his season-ending surgery.

Javier, however, wasn't too bad on the mound when he was healthy aside from his last three starts of 2024. Overall, he finished his 2024 season for the Astros with a 3.89 ERA in 34.2 innings (seven starts).

(All stats were taken from Fangraphs unless otherwise noted.)