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Hunter Brown aiming for consistency in 2024

January 28, 2024

Now that he's had a chance to reflect on his 2023 rookie season, Astros right-hander Hunter Brown admits fatigue was one of the factors that led to his subpar second half of the season. That's understandable when you consider Brown's 162 2/3 innings pitched last year, including the playoffs, were 30 more than he amassed in any season since he was drafted by Houston.

Brown was 6-4 with a 3.62 ERA and 1.20 WHIP in his first 15 starts of the season, including four starts where he pitched seven innings and didn't allow an earned run. Opposing hitters had a .672 OPS against him in that span. In his final 14 starts in the regular season, he was 5-9 with a 5.95 ERA and 1.57 WHIP, with opposing hitters posting a .920 OPS.

"I think some things in my mechanics changed probably due to fatigue without even realizing it," Brown said last week. "I was getting a little bit more crossfire [in my delivery] which diminished my ability to get the fastball away, to right-handers especially. I was leaving it more arm-side, so they were able to do more damage on my fastball-cutter. That was definitely something that we talked about and we've got to stay on that this year and keep making adjustments as the season goes on."

Brown said he's working with pitching coaches Josh Miller and Billy Murphy on a new slider that will have a lower velocity, which will give him another weapon from the cutter-slider he threw last year. That pitch averaged 91 mph last year, and his fastball averaged 96 mph. Right-handed hitters posted an .839 OPS against Brown last year (lefties had a .728 OPS).

"Going into it, we talked about [how] at the end of this season my numbers weren't as good as they were at the beginning, and how to combat that and see what we can do to capitalize on a good, whole, entire season," Brown said. "Coming off a full season, the timing's a little bit different, too, with when you start throwing with more intensity."

Brown messed around with a sweeper last year at times and found that throwing something with that much break from his arm side was difficult to keep in the strike zone.

"We're just going for something that the biggest thing is going to be the velocity change we're shooting for," Brown said. "Just kind of started working on it over the last couple of weeks as throwing intensified. I've thrown two bullpens so far these past two Fridays [Jan. 12 and 19]. That will be a big thing for me to work on in Spring Training, for sure."

CÁRDENAS ON 'CLOUD NINE'

One of the first phone calls René Cárdenas received when he was elected to the Astros Hall of Fame last week was from former big league pitcher Dennis Martinez, who is from Cárdenas' native Nicaragua. The congratulations haven't stopped rolling in since for the soon-to-be 94-year-old broadcasting pioneer.

Cárdenas and the late former third baseman Ken Caminiti will be inducted into the Astros Hall of Fame on Aug. 17 at Minute Maid Park. It's a career achievement for Cárdenas, who became the first full-time Spanish-language broadcaster to call games for a Major League team when he joined the Dodgers as their original Spanish radio broadcaster, then later came to Houston.

"I thought I was a forgotten person in the organization, but this was a tremendous and sweet surprise and I love it," Cárdenas said. "I think I'm on cloud nine right now."

In 1961, Cárdenas was hired by the expansion Colt .45s to pioneer their Spanish radio broadcasts as both their first broadcaster and as director of Spanish broadcasting. By 1966, Cárdenas had created the first international radio network for baseball to help the Astros recruit talent in South America and Central America. That network reached 13 different countries in those regions.

"We had about 140 and 150 stations in the network every Sunday when we did those games," he said. "I think it was a pretty good idea to promote the Astrodome to the Spanish world."

Cárdenas called Astros games for 14 seasons before returning to Nicaragua in 1975, when he called baseball games on both television and radio. In 1982, he returned to Los Angeles and called games for the Dodgers for several seasons before returning to the Astros' Spanish radio broadcast in 2007 and '08. In '08, he also called several Astros games in Spanish on television for the first time.

GRAVEMAN WANTS TO STAY INVOLVED

Astros reliever Kendall Graveman, who will miss the 2024 season after undergoing shoulder surgery earlier this month, said the thought of not being able to compete with his teammates is difficult to digest. Graveman wants to be involved with the team as much as he can this year, even though he's a free agent after the season and may never throw a pitch for the Astros again.

"That's the tough part for me to deal with," he said. "I'm trying to find a way, whatever way the Astros see fit for me to be involved or help. I've looked at Lance McCullers over the last couple of years and I know he's missed time, and I know he is cut from the same cloth mentally as the way I am. That's just been kind of really refreshing to see him show up.

"I think he's helped people get better even when he's not performing. I think he's been selfless as he's been going through the rehab process. All of that is encouraging for me to see from his end. However the Astros see me fitting into a role like that or however I could help this year, I would be more than happy to. That's something that weighs heavy on me."

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