Astros' general manager Dana Brown has lofty expectations for injured starters

The Houston Astros have a strange situation to deal with this season. While Hunter Brown and Framber Valdez have been incredible atop the rotation, the rest of the group has major question marks.

Cristian Javier, Luis Garcia, Spencer Arrighetti, and J.P. France are all working their way back from injury. Ryan Gusto, Brandon Walker are all at the start of their MLB careers, and pitching meaningful innings. Lance McCullers Jr., meanwhile, has struggled and bounced between the rotation and the injured list this season.

But in a piece from Chandler Rome of The Athletic, general manager Dana Brown shared lofty expectations for the team's injured starters upon their return to the rotation.

"During the team's pregame radio show on Sunday," Rome writes, "General manager Dana Brown said Javier is ahead of Garcia, but expressed hope that both pitchers would contribute in the second half."

While not a prediction, Brown is hopeful that the injured starters will make contributions in the second half of the year. Such a hope gives an inside look at what Brown might consider at the trade deadline.

MORE: Astros GM Dana Brown reveals recovery timeline for Jake Meyers amid injury

If he believes that the starters currently on the injured list can make a difference in the second half of the year, then he'd be unlikely to land a top-of-the-line starter at the deadline.

He could also decide not to pursue a starter overall, as between the current crop of starters and the ones progressing in their return, the team would have ten potential starters on the roster.

Houston doesn't need that many, but the issue is that outside of Brown and Valdez, the rest of the rotation has major question marks. McCullers has a 6.48 ERA in ten starts this season. Gordon and Gusto have 4.67 and 4.58 ERA's respectively.

Javier and Garcia are recovering from Tommy John surgery, while France had surgery on his right shoulder, and Arrighetti fractured his thumb. These issues aren't easy to recover from, and the Astros are relying on them to produce right as they return from injury.

That's no guarantee, and could easily go wrong, especially if they can't return to form right away. But, even with these concerns, Brown still has hope for his injured starters once they make their season debuts later this year.

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