KANSAS CITY -- There¡¯s a long way to go this season, but the early returns indicate the Astros have gone a long way toward solidifying the bottom of the rotation with their offseason acquisition of right-hander Hayden Wesneski.
Acquired from the Cubs last December in the Kyle Tucker deal, Wesneski has been solid as the fifth starter and was again on Friday night in the Astros¡¯ 2-0 loss to the Royals at Kauffman Stadium.
On another night, Wesneski¡¯s outing might well have been good enough to factor into a Houston victory. But matched against 2024 All-Star right-hander Seth Lugo, who had the Astros hitters baffled all evening, Wesneski¡¯s effort fell short as he logged five-plus innings and yielded two runs on eight hits to go with no walks and one strikeout.
¡°He [Wesneski] has been really good for us,¡± manager Joe Espada said. ¡°We have been really happy with his performance. Our pitching [instructors] have done a really good job with some ideas and he has been like a sponge in making himself a much better pitcher. There was some stuff we liked before the trade and he is doing some stuff now that we like even more. A really solid piece for us.¡±
Wesneski, who entered Friday¡¯s start allowing opponents just a .233 on-base percentage and a .188 batting average, stayed right with Lugo until the fifth when the Royals broke on top with a bloop double by Drew Waters, a sacrifice bunt and a sacrifice fly by Kyle Isbel.
That display of small ball produced a 1-0 lead that seemed bigger with the way that Lugo was completely shutting down Houston¡¯s offense in a game that was played in just 1:58.
When the Astros last visited Kansas City roughly a calendar year ago, they were starving for crisp starting pitching due largely to injuries. But that¡¯s not the case in April 2025 as Houston¡¯s rotation continues to come through. In the past six games, the starters have surrendered just nine runs.
Wesneski is certainly doing his part.
On a night when the Astros made solid contact on occasion, they managed just three hits. Meanwhile, Kansas City¡¯s scoring innings commenced with soft contact hits that ultimately produced the two runs.
¡°It¡¯s a big outfield here and that¡¯s what happens,¡± Wesneski said. ¡°You are going to take your luck where you can get it. A little bad luck today, but we held them to two [runs]. It was OK.¡±
The Astros saw exactly why Lugo was a 2024 American League All-Star and Cy Young runner-up.
¡°He had all his pitches working for him,¡± Espada said. ¡°He mixed them well, in and out, and changed speeds with a really slow curveball. Credit to him.¡±
The Astros noticed that Wesneski¡¯s velocity was down a tick, but not enough to alarm Espada.
¡°We saw it coming in, but the shape of his pitches was good,¡± Espada said. ¡°No concern on that end. But we did notice the velo was down a little bit.¡±
Wesneski just needed some offensive support, but it wasn¡¯t happening against Lugo or the back of Kansas City¡¯s bullpen.
¡°We hit some balls hard, but they were more lucky than we were,¡± Espada said. ¡°That¡¯s how baseball works. They bunted some guys over and got some sacrifice flies. But I liked our at-bats. We grinded through against someone who had really good stuff.¡±