Houston Astros' starting rotation suffers severe injuries, GM names Kai-Wei Teng as a rotation option.

Houston Astros' pitching staff continues to face injuries; before today's 1-6 loss to the Seattle Mariners away, General Manager Dana Brown identified Kai-Wei Teng as one of the starting rotation options. Subsequently, in the game, Cody Bolton, who replaced injured ace Hunter Brown as starter, pitched to only nine batters before exiting early due to back tightness, adding another injured player to the team.

Prior to this, in the Astros' starting rotation, Hunter Brown and Cristian Javier both entered the injury list within five days due to Grade 2 shoulder strains, expected to be reevaluated after two weeks and potentially missing more time. On April 11, Tatsuya Imai also pitched to only seven batters before leaving; the next day he returned to Houston for examination, with the official reason cited as "arm fatigue."

The Astros originally planned to use a six-man starting rotation during their consecutive 13-game stretch starting April 11, but frequent injuries have strained their scheduling. After tomorrow's Mike Burrows, at least three upcoming games will require pitchers currently not in the rotation to fill in. One of those games might be assigned to Spencer Arrighetti, who was sent down at the end of spring training, but he can only pitch earliest on April 15 after four days of normal rest.

In a pre-game interview with a radio station today, Brown stated: "We currently have some depth in our bullpen, possibly extending Ryan Weiss's innings, and possibly extending Kai-Wei Teng's innings." He also noted that Nate Pearson, who is undergoing rehabilitation, as well as Peter Lambert, Colton Gordon, and Jason Alexander in Triple-A, are all potential replacement options.

Bolton, who started the season from the bullpen, replaced Hunter Brown's scheduled April 7 start after he entered the injury list, delivering a performance of 4.1 innings with 5 strikeouts and 2 runs allowed. Amid numerous injuries among Astros starting pitchers, he received another starting opportunity today.

However, in the first inning, Bolton issued two walks, allowed a hit by Randy Arozarena that scored one run, giving the Mariners the first lead. In the second inning, he started by consecutively issuing three walks, then summoned the trainer, leaving with a bases-loaded, no-outs situation. The Astros announced he exited after pitching 47 balls due to back tightness.

Ultimately, the Mariners scored 6 runs throughout the game with 8 hits, supplemented by 9 walks and 2 hit-by-pitches from the Astros pitching staff. The Astros offense managed only 5 hits and scored 1 run, losing by a 5-run margin.

Jayden Murray, who relieved Bolton today, pitched 2 innings in relief with 38 balls allowing 2 runs; subsequently, Christian Roa also pitched 2 innings in relief with 40 balls allowing 2 runs.