Astros pitching woes go from bad to worse with historically-awful performance

The Houston Astros are without Justin Verlander, Framber Valdez and Lance McCullers, among others. Their starting rotation is a shell of itself, and changes may be necessary to survive the early-season onslaught.

Just one day after Astros prospect Spencer Arrighetti gave up seven runs in three innings pitched, fellow Houston starting pitcher Hunter Brown did him one better. The issue with the Astros rotation is that there is no clear ace. When Verlander or Valdez returns, perhaps that will change, but for now Joe Espada is forced to put a lot of pressure on young players who haven't faced that sort of challenge before.

Espada claimed Arrighetti's promotion had more to do with emphasizing staff depth than his actual performance, which is never a good sign.

“He’s going to be starting the game [Wednesday],” Espada said at the time. “We want to make sure we protect some of these guys. Having Arrighetti here will allow us to push everyone back a day and protect our young starters. We’re going to need them for a long season.”

Espada is right, it's a long season. However, Astros fans have grown impatient with a young and inept starting rotation. A Thursday loss to the Royals has Houston on edge, as the Astros are now 4-10, good for last place in the AL West.

Hunter Brown's Astros start was historically bad

During Thursday's start, Brown did not make it out of the first inning, giving up 11 hits in the process. He is the first pitcher to do that...in MLB history.

The word you are looking for is yikes.

It's a long season, and eventually the Astros rotation should get healthy. If not, general manager Dana Brown has the ammo necessary to make a move.

Houston is nearing a pivotal point in their impressive run. Alex Bregman is set to enter free agency next season, and Verlander isn't getting any younger. They can ill-afford to take any games off.