Former Pitcher Randy Flores Inherits Astros’ Struggling Pitching Staff

The Houston Astros have a new general manager, Randy Flores. The former St. Louis Cardinals assistant general manager is now taking over Houston’s front office.

The former lefty was drafted by the Yankees in 1997 out of USC. He pitched parts of eight seasons for the Rangers, Rockies, Cardinals, and Twins. His biggest moment came in October 2006, when he threw 5⅔ scoreless postseason innings and the Cardinals won the World Series.

Now, Flores is taking on an entire pitching staff, and it is a staff that has a lot of questions heading into 2027.

The Astros’ pitching staff struggled in 2026 in more than one way. Despite the constantly thinning staff, the Astros managed to use a club-record 19 starting pitchers.

The Astros started the season with a handful of pitchers sidelined from surgery, like Hayden Wesneski, Brandon Walter, and Ronel Blanco, all out from Tommy John surgery. They were also without Josh Hader, who had left biceps tendinitis. Then early on, Hunter Brown was sidelined with a right shoulder strain.

Most importantly, the Astros need stability, and that is exactly what they need Flores to bring.

Take Peter Lambert, for example. He truly rose to the occasion and kept the staff grounded in 2026, or at least tried his best.

Lambert led the team in innings pitched, finishing the season 8-10 with a 3.82 ERA, 154 strikeouts, and 155.2 innings.

However, many of their other starters struggled, like Tatsuya Imai, who had a 4.93 ERA, and Mike Burrows, who had a 5.99 ERA. After struggling as a starter, Imai was moved to the bullpen, where his numbers improved.

Stepping into the role without a manager for the time being, Flores is inheriting all of these decisions. Should Imai stay in the bullpen, or should he go back to being a starter? Is Mike Burrows worth keeping around? Can he improve?

In terms of strong, reliable arms, he doesn’t have a lot to work with. He has Lambert, Hunter Brown, Hayden Wesneski, and Josh Hader. Others are either free agents or just lacked consistency in 2026.

That said, he will need to look outside the organization, and luckily for the Astros, that is one of his strengths.

Lambert cannot hold this staff together all on his own, and they need a few more strong, consistent arms, and Flores should be the guy to find them.

Knowing pitching and building a staff are different. That said, Flores has shown he has strengths on both sides. If he can beef up the Astros’ pitching staff, they will be a completely different team in 2027.