The Astros activated Hayden Wesneski from the 60-day injured list on July 29 and put him in line to start the series finale in Anaheim, bringing him back to an MLB mound after 14 months away. Miguel Ullola was optioned to Triple-A Sugar Land to make room on the active roster.
Wesneski’s return lands at a useful moment for Houston. The club needed a starter after Spencer Arrighetti went on the injured list over the weekend, and Wesneski had already shown enough in his rehab work to get the call. He threw 4 1/3 scoreless innings with seven strikeouts in a Triple-A start against Milwaukee’s affiliate on Friday, finishing that outing on 80 pitches and setting up the first big-league test of his comeback.
For Wesneski, the assignment is more than a spot start. He had been sidelined since Tommy John surgery last May, and his minor league buildup moved quickly enough to put him back in the rotation within 13 months of the operation. Before the injury, he had opened the 2025 season with 32 innings and a 4.50 ERA across six starts, a line that showed enough to keep him in the conversation even as the rehab clock ran long.
The return also fits into the larger picture of how Houston has patched together its staff. Wesneski, acquired as a secondary part of the return from the Cubs for Kyle Tucker, now slots alongside Hunter Brown, Peter Lambert, Ronel Blanco and Tatsuya Imai for the moment. Cristian Javier has also been part of the mix, throwing five scoreless innings with seven strikeouts on 70 pitches in relief, which gives the Astros another way to reshuffle things if they decide Imai belongs in the bullpen.
That possibility matters because the rotation still does not look settled. Tatsuya Imai again failed to escape the first inning, leaving Houston with one more reason to keep its options open even as Wesneski comes back. For now, the Astros have a healthy arm to take the ball in Anaheim; what comes after that may depend on whether his first outing back looks like the start of a longer run or just the first stop on a bigger roster shuffle.
